Not Just A Nightmare
by Starlight Musings
Summary: Strange, ultra-realistic nightmares have plagued the Vocaloid mansion, infecting and ruining the Vocaloid's mental health, one by one. Until someone goes missing, the "unwilling sacrifice." Can they find the source and end the madness? And what secrets are people hiding? DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Hi~ Thank you for clicking on my story. This chapter is short, I'm warning you, but they get longer. A lot longer. So hang in there! Even better: think of this as a prologue or something. Okay! Now read!**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The dark. It was everywhere, _everywhere_. The floor is wet. Why is it wet? And why are the walls wet? No, it's blood. Blood. Everywhere. No. Escape. I sit down. My teal hair is now stained red at the tips. Whose blood is it? What is this? How did I get here? Wait-what's that sound? W-World Is Mine? Demented, off-key, what happened? Sounds like a child remixed it. I try to sing, it makes me feel better. What happened to my voice? Raspy, awful sound just came out of my mouth! A figure is in front of me. The silhouette looks like me. Evil grin. Red eyes. Her hands grab my throat. Where did all of my strength go? I'm going to die here. I don't want this, no! This...cannot...be real...shadows of…something. I can't seem to identify anything anymore…

Miku woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up in her bed. Sheets were everywhere, pillows on the ground, and her hair was more tangled than usual. Her teal eyes widened, and she instantly put a hand around her throat. There was nothing there. She was in her teal and green room; leeks in the corner, no blood anywhere. Miku carefully examined her long hair. No blood, nothing different. She was actually more exhausted than she had been after a concert from thrashing about in her sleep. All seemed well.

"What...was that?" The tealette sighed; she never had nightmares before. Sure, she could be scared, but she was never really introduced to truly frightening things. Remembering her awful, raspy voice in the dream, she sung a few quiet notes to herself. Not to brag, but they were utterly perfect. Still, the nightmare terrified Miku. She would probably have to talk to Luka about it later. Luka knows how to handle these things! Glancing at her green alarm clock, Miku read the time. 3:00AM.

"Wow, early..." Miku let out a small yawn, and then tried to get to sleep again. Of course, after such a realistic nightmare, it wasn't easy. It made everything seem much more sinister tan it really was. Closing her eyes was out of the question for the next ten minutes. So, She did the next best thing: stare at the ceiling. It was working fairly well; the girl was just about to fall asleep again, until a loud scream was heard from another room. Miku immediately sat up and got out of bed, not bothering to put on her green slippers. She threw open the door and ran down the right hall. She could see that Rin and Len's room doors were thrown open, too. Taking a quick glance, she saw Kaito's blue door open, and Gumi had just bolted, a glimpse of orange and forest green making another turn. Miku followed her friend and saw Gumi knocking on Miki's door.

"_How_ is she _not awake yet_?" Miku tapped Gumi on the shoulder, and the other green-haired girl swiveled around in an orange nightgown, her red goggles hanging around her neck.

"Well, Miki is a pretty deep sleeper, I'll give her that," Gumi told Miku, still pounding on the white door. It had small red cherries decorating the outside, spelling out _Miki_.

"I have to go! Try opening it!"

"It's locked!"

"The lock pick is on top of Meiko's doorframe!" Miku called from down the hallway. She didn't wait for a response; Gumi was smart enough to figure it out. Honestly, these hallways were too long. So many people living here! After about three long seconds, Miku sprinted into the pink and brown room to see a crying Luka in her tuna-printed pajamas.

"Luka! W-What happened?" Miku rushed to her friend's bedside, Meiko had an arm around the crying girl, and the Kagamines watched from a slight distance. Each was clad in either oranges or bananas. Len looked a bit like Rin when he had his hair down, it was actually pretty funny. A moment later, Gumi and a sleepy Miki ran into the room. Miki walked over to Luka and sat on her bed, clad in a cherry-printed nightgown.

"What happened, Luka?" Miki sleepily asked. Luka looked up, still crying. She tried to get words out, but none could form on her lips.

Meiko sat up and explained what happened to Miki. "Ah, Luka had a bad nightmare that would have scared the shit outta even me..." Miki let out a gasp; Meiko was barely fazed by anything. If Meiko was even a bit frightened, it means that Kaito would probably pee himself, and he was no wimp. Finally, Luka started speaking.

"T-There was a-an awful blizzard, I couldn't see anything, and the s-snow was hurting me, like knives were stabbing me! It f-felt so real, and there was so much of my blood everywhere, a-and a man with a katana attacked me, calling me a 'sacrifice' and 'trash' and he stabbed me o-over and over. I wouldn't die, no matter how he t-tortured me, and it hurt so badly, and it never ended! He licked the bloody katana, and then continued to stab me-" Luka began crying again. Miku tried to comfort her upset friend, but to no avail. By this time, Piko, Iroha, CUL, Mew, Mizki, Yuma, Gakupo, Kiyoteru, Yuki, Rion, and Yukari had come in, making the room a crowded mess. Kiyoteru was covering little Yuki's ears, and Gakupo was desperately pushing his way through the crowd.

"Luka! Are you okay, darling?" Gakupo called out to Luka, trying to get her attention. It was a one-sided relationship between them, but nobody knew who Luka had a crush on, if anyone. "I heard everything, and I'm sorry I couldn't get here quicker, but I live on the other side of this freakin' huge mansion, and-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Luka cried out, not willing to deal with the stress of the nightmare and Gakupo. She threatened him by spontaneously pulling a fork out from under her sheets. "I don't have to, nor do I want to, deal with _you._ Please, just leave…"

"I-I'm sorry, darling...and where do you get the forks?" Gakupo meekly said, a blush appearing on his face as everyone in the room stared at him in disdain. Meanwhile, Miku was worried. It's not abnormal for two people to have a nightmare on the same night, it wasn't even the same one. But everyone gets bad dreams, but not such awful ones that do this much mental damage. It was then Miku decided to speak up to the crowd.

"I recently had a nightmare, a bad one like this," Everyone looked at Miku, shock on his or her faces. "I woke up in a cold sweat," Miku began explaining, eyes glued on her. The rest of her extended family began whispering about how odd or freaky this was. Miku began to explain what had scared her so badly. "I was in a dark room, and there was blood everywhere..."

"This can't be a coincidence," Meiko muttered under her breath. "so what is it?"

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**My first horror story. I think it's a bit slow, considering I have a few chapters still in progress, but it needs time to fully build up. Review if you want me to post the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Special thanks to Paru-ch4n for reviewing! :D

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"T-That's awful!"

"What's going on here?"

"I'm scared!"

"I don't want this nightmare!"

Choruses of voices blended together, all sounding quite fearful of sleeping now. Miku turned back to Luka, who had stopped crying. Her pink hair was a mess of knots and there were small hairs sticking out everywhere. Once glowing blue eyes were dull and bloodshot, her face slightly red. Meiko was the first to really speak up.

"Alright. There seems to be something strange going on around this house-" Meiko was cut off by some man in the crowd.

"No, really! Having such awful nightmares? Quit stating the obvious, Meiko!"

"Shut up, bastard!" Meiko angrily called out, unsure of where the voice came from. She glared around the room. "If I hear one more smart-ass comment, heads will roll. Anyway, I have an idea: boys in one half of the house, girls in the other. We split up each gender into three groups, and we all sleep in the three larger meeting rooms on each side, totaling six groups, separated by age. Nobody will sleep alone so this won't happen again, got it? Kaito will organize the male section, I will handle the girls. Boys-exit the room to the other side. Right now, please." The men hastily exited, afraid if what Meiko would do to them if they didn't leave. Kaito escorted them out of Luka's room. Meiko began to separate the women into groups. The youngest Vocaloids, oldest girl in that section being Yuki, were taken down the hall, left of Miku's room. The middle section, consisting of girls about Rin's age, was taken to the room across from the youngest girls. The older teenagers and adults, consisting of Miku, Luka, Gumi, Miki, Meiko, Mizki, and a few others were at the end of that same hall. Spare blankets were kept in every room, and most people ran into their rooms to get their pillows or anything else they wanted. The younger girls ran to get their stuffed animals, boys getting some "action figures", most others just grabbing their favorite pillows and blankets. Everybody was afraid to defy Meiko; that woman could inflict some serious punishment. With the number of people, it took a good hour or two to completely set up the new sleeping areas.

"Alright, this arrangement will only be temporary, so don't completely move in, got it?" Meiko made this announcement in every room, left the oldest girl of each group in charge, then proceeded to turn off all the lights. Then, in dead silence, a loud crash was heard from the boy's side. Most girls screamed, a few simply laughed at the fact that the silence was broken so abruptly and the screaming, but Meiko was purely pissed off and marched over to the boys. A few minutes later, a small yelp was heard from what sounded like Kaito's "manly" screech, then not a sound was heard throughout the whole mansion.

It was revealed in the morning that a few boys and girls were too scared to sleep, so they pulled all-nighters to avoid it. They got a light scolding from Meiko for avoiding their sleep, then praised by Kaito for staying up so late in such tiring conditions. Then, the day continued like nothing had happened. It was the same routine, people stayed up, most crashed early, the same old thing. No nightmares, nothing out of the ordinary. After a week of no occurrences, people were allowed to go back to their own rooms if they wanted, it was an option to stay. Of course Luka stayed, and Miku decided it was best if she did, too. Others stayed in pure fear, but they gradually moved back over time. Luka was the last to go back, but with enough coaxing, the pinkette moved back into her room.

Yuki was still scared. The thing was, she was a big girl, so she had to go back early. Tsukuyomi Ai went back before her! She's _five! _But the more Yuki looked up at the ceiling, the scarier everything looked. Shadows, patterns, even her apple plushies looked terrifying! After a while of this, Yuki crept into Big Meiko's room. The woman was sleeping very soundly, not appearing to be disturbed a bit by the scary nightmare that both Miku and Luka had! Deciding it was safe, Yuki mustered up her courage and swallowed her pride to go wake up Big Meiko.

"B-Big Meiko?" No response. Yuki lightly tapped her shoulder, hoping she would wake up. After a while of practicing this, Yuki looked around for a place to stay for a bit. She wanted to stay for a few hours, then wake up really early and go back to her room, completely rested up. She found success in a red, fluffy beanbag chair that had been cast off to the side. Snuggling up into its softness, Yuki pulled the long sleeves of her red nightgown in hopes of getting warmer, because it was like the room was an igloo! Not being able to handle the cold, Yuki ever so carefully sat up and began searching for a blanket. Then, up inside the messy closet, was a large red blanket, slightly hanging over the edge of the top shelf. Yes! Yuki reached out her arm to pull it down for the night, but she was a few inches off. She tried balancing on her toes, but she was still about an inch off. She tried jumping up and grabbing it. Her small fingers caught the warm fabric, but much more violently pulled it down. A few clothes and other miscellaneous items fell down with a thud, Yuki falling over in the process.

"Oof! Ouch..." Yuki groaned, sighing when she saw the mess she had accidently made. With a quick gasp, she attempted to throw up everything that had fallen, but it always came tumbling back down.

"Big Meiko's gonna be so mad at me..." Yuki wanted to cry, but if Big Meiko wasn't awake already, Yuki's sobs would wake her up for sure. Then, in her haste, Yuki just shoved everything into the very back of the closet, hoping nobody would notice. Quietly picking up the blanket, Yuki turned around to see if Big Meiko had woken up. Instead, Yuki was greeted with a small snore and an arm twitch. She tiptoed back to the beanbag chair, got comfortable, and finally fell asleep.

When Meiko woke up the next morning, she was very happy with herself. Everyone had gone back to their rooms, no nightmares or screaming, just peace and quiet. She sat up in her bed, then groggily looked around the room. The clock read 9:46AM. Lamp, manga, clothes, closet, Kaai Yuki, wi-Meiko did a double take. Little Yuki was curled up in her old beanbag chair at the far end of the room under a red blanket Kaito had given Meiko a few years back. She smiled, knowing what had probably happened. As gently as possible, Meiko picked up the sleeping nine-year old and carried her back to her apple-scented room. Yuki began to stir a bit in the hallway, but stayed asleep, her short black hair loosely dangling from Meiko's grip.

"Hmm...lets see, Ai, Shota, Iroha, Yuki." Meiko adjusted her hand to open the doorknob to Yuki's apple fortress. She carefully set the little girl on her bed and put her under the red blanket. Meiko never used it, anyway. Before exiting the room, Meiko kissed Yuki's forehead in a motherly way, smiled, and walked back to her room. As she walked back, she remembered that she WAS up early for the house, so she had to be quiet. But because everything was so quiet, Meiko could have sworn she heard crying from another room. Going back, she put her ear by every door to see who was crying. Not Yuki, Ai, Shota...but the soft crying was coming from Iroha's room. How had she missed this before?

"Nekomura? Iroha, are you okay?" Meiko softly knocked on the pink door. A small gasp could be heard before Iroha opened up the door. Her usually cheery face was sad, she looked like she had been crying for a while now. The cat-girl tried to put on her best smile and her most cheery voice when she said:

"Eh, Meiko? What are you doing up so early?" Iroha looked down and tried to sneakily wipe away a small tear, but failed to be the ninja she imagined.

"Iroha, I heard you crying? Did you have a bad dream?" Meiko put a hand on the young girl's shoulders.

"N-No! I'm thirteen, s-so I don't cry anymore!" Iroha looked away, her face flushing red. Meiko waited a few seconds before Iroha started talking. "Yeah...I was in some empty white place. There was no ceiling and no walls. I walked around...and there were dead cat bodies everywhere! T-They were all mutilated and scary and bloody! A cage fell on me and t-the bars had cat blood and then someone in a mask came out of nowhere w-with a bunch of torture tools and awful, awful things...s-somehow, he just 'poofed' into the cage and attacked me like I was one of those poor kitties and I woke up w-when he...he cut my throat...! It seemed so real-" Iroha started insanely crying, then ran back into her pink Hello Kitty themed room. It took Meiko about an hour to get Iroha to stop crying and convince her that she was okay.

Sounds easy? Okay, you go and comfort a hysterical teen that refuses to listen to a word you say.

_I have to get to the bottom of this..._ Meiko grimly thought.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Alright, you asked for it-chapter 2!


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay, more reviews! I love you all! Still, I wish there was a way to advertise in the world of Fanfiction. Warning: not horror this time, a bit of fluff just for the fun of it. And a special thanks to Paru-ch4n and APH1168kittens for reviewing!**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Kaito casually strolled down the enormous halls, eating some cookie-dough ice cream straight out of the carton. He wore a blue scarf-the same color as his eyes and hair-during the warm seasons, and had a very quirky personality. To normal people, he would be that freak over in the ice cream section of the supermarket, but in the Vocaloid household, it was completely normal to see the hyper man in a scarf in July with a gallon of ice cream and a spoon. He despised haircuts, even when his long blue locks began to get in his eyes. Despite the number of parodies and comical songs he writes and performs with a smile, Kaito was very serious about his music. The fun songs are a "break" to him, a break from concentrating on the perfect lyrics for a beautiful, heartbreaking, or spirit-lifting song. It's sad to him that his silly songs are often more popular than the ones he works the hardest on. Kaito enjoys playing both board games and a good game of paintball with Len, Piko, and occasionally Leon and Big Al, the part of the band that resides in America and/or England. He has a habit of building strong ties with people he may never see again, especially fans. Natural good looks and a perfect smile catches everyone's attention, but Kaito can be very oblivious to this at times. He usually doesn't have many problems in his life, but a few have come up recently. First, his love life. He had small crushes on three girls. THREE. And he had to pick one at some point. There was Meiko, the fierce, loyal, but loving woman with a strong will and fist; Miku, the kind-hearted diva with long pigtails and a fun personality; or Miki, the fiery redhead with the ahoge, a tomboyish, carefree attitude, and a determination like nobody else. Second, the little nightmare epidemic. First Luka, then Miku, and then little Iroha. The attack on Iroha confirmed that there was something going on and it was not just a coincidence, but there was no distinguishable pattern. Kaito was close with just about everyone in his family and absolutely hated to see anyone hurt, more than he hated cutting his hair. Also, nobody wanted those nightmares, either! And they came up randomly, so Kaito or one of his close friends could be next. The thought sent a small shiver down his spine.

"Hi, Kaito!" A certain spunky redhead ran his way, ahoge bouncing with every step. Kaito wheeled around and saw Miki in her standard outfit, smiling like she had won the lottery.

"Hey, Miki! What's up?" Kaito replied with an ice cream-coated smile. Miki's happiness was contagious sometimes, and talking to her always left him in a good mood. It felt good to relax a bit after thinking about the household "problem".

"I was wondering if you would like to go and get some ice cream with me...well, more ice cream!" Miki glanced at the carton in the blue-haired man's hands. This was it. Kaito no longer had to make a decision. Miki had made it for him. Just to make sure, he asked a few questions.

"Wouldn't you rather go with Gumi, knowing you, that would be your preference,"

"No, Gumi's rehearsing some new song today, and I know that you really like ice cream! Gumi would normally go with us, but she can't make it, like I said, so it's you and me!" Ah. _She wanted to go as friends. Huh. I can't believe that I actually thought this was going to be a date…_ Kaito sulked to himself.

"S-Sounds good, Miki. Right now?"

"Yep! Let's go!" Kaito dropped his ice cream off in the mini-fridge in his room on the way out, and they were off!

Miki has always enjoyed biking around for as long as I've known her. She also enjoys riding as fast as she can through the biggest puddles she can find after a storm, sometimes during a storm. To be honest, it _is_ a pretty fun thing to do.

"Wait up, Miki!"

"But we're racing!"

She was right; I had just started daydreaming and forgotten. Now remembering this, I sped up until I was riding alongside her. Noticing that I was at level with her, Miki brought forth a sudden burst of speed. Right through a puddle.

"Miki, you got me wet!"

"Sorry! We can dry off while we eat!" Classic Miki. About thirty minutes of this had gone by before we had caught sight of the ice cream stand. The small rainbow umbrella had given it away, and we both sped up at the sight of it.

"Wow, that was SO FUN!" Miki exclaimed as she hopped off her bright red bike, then walked it over to the bike rack nearby. I followed and locked my blue bike next to hers. By the time I was done fumbling with my bike lock, Miki was already ordering. Hearing my footsteps, the redhead turned around and motioned for me to hurry up. I quickened my pace to a light jog, my scarf flying behind me.

"Black-vanilla cherry with, umm, how about three cherries on top for me, and Kaito here will have..." she trailed off, and then I realized it was my turn to order.

"Oh! Umm, I guess I'll have chocolate with a, umm…one cherry on top," I ordered. My plan: because Miki had an addiction to cherries, I would give her mine out of the kindness of my heart. I zoned out, thinking about how my plan may result, and then I felt a tap on my shoulder. Miki had taken the ice creams and was nudging me with my cup.

"Kaito, your ice cream," Miki stared right into my eyes, her soft red orbs meeting my blue ones.

"Here, take my cherry." After taking my chocolate delight, I took off the bright red cherry from my bowl and set it down in Miki's. A look of joy crossed her face, and out of the blue, she leaped up and gave me a bear hug.

"Thank you, Kaito! Your the best!" Damn, she loved her cherries. I squeezed her back, then-a total, but absolutely wonderful surprise – Miki gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. _That_ was not over a cherry. _That_ was something special.

"M-Miki..." I blushed, and then I noticed that she was blushing, too. Her face was about as red as her hair, which is a pretty impressive color, I must say.

"Umm...l-let's just eat now, o-okay...?" Hehe. Tsundere. Obviously, she was upset with what she did, but I was at a loss for words. Not in a bad way, the kiss was _amazing_. Problem – did she know that? That's when I leaned in and gave her a kiss right back on the cheek.

"..."

"..."

Awkward silence.

Almost simultaneously, we began eating our ice cream faster, trying to get rid of the heat in our faces. Once we had both calmed down a bit as the color slowly vanished, we began talking like nothing had happened, but that moment still lingered in the back of my mind. Judging by the way Miki was squirming in her seat on the park bench, it was the same for her. It was a pretty good day on my end, if I say so myself.

What. Just. Happened. I set them up, that's what! I, Gumi Megpoid, am the best matchmaker that has ever lived! Pulling my red goggles off my eyes and placing them on my head, I fully registered what had happened. In my mind, it was still too good to be true. Story: I knew Miki could be a bit of a tsundere sometimes, and it was obvious to observant people like me that she had small, minuscule feelings for Kaito. So, when I overheard her telling Miku she was going to go with Kaito and I for ice cream, I made up the lie that I was rehearsing a new song so they would go together and that I was about to go down to the studio. Like a ninja, I followed them here, hiding behind poles and bushes. It was hard to avoid getting wet with Miki speeding through puddles as big as lakes and still see what those two were doing and hearing what they were saying, but somehow I remained dry. Thank God for that, I really like these boots! I ended up a few meters away from where their bench was, watching their every move to see if my plan worked. Still, I'm not sure what totally triggered the kiss, but hell, was it A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.! They will be the next big thing, and be together forever, and-

Slow down, Megpoid. He didn't even ask her out. Because Kaito is a _TOTAL CHICKEN_ sometimes. That fool! I gotta try harder next time! Maybe an accidently-on purpose lunch outing? Or maybe I can plan a beach day and get those two alone! Or write a duet for them to sing together, something really sweet and lovey-dovey. I also need to get Kiyoteru and Meiko together. I sorta-kinda-maybe sneaked into Kiyoteru's room for absolutely no reason and found a song he was writing. It was actually titled "MEIKO". It. Was. So. Damn. Cute! I doubt he'll record it on his own, but with my epic skills of epicness, it'll be the perfect love song! I knew he wasn't a pedophile! Now all I have to do is convince Meiko that he isn't pedophile, which may take a while…but Miki and Kaito have _nothing_ but small kisses on the cheek, and then totally forgetting about it, so that may be hard…but it will work!

Gumi Megpoid, lighter of the fire of love, OUT!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**Ah, that was fun. Every few chapters, when there is an opening available, Kaito will have another moment with either Miku or Meiko next time. What? Even though Kaito is sorta the father figure, he can date other people. They are in his age range, after all. After that, judging by your reviews, I will pick who he will be paired with in this story. Make sure to put your reasons why, okay? Basically, I write their "date," you pick your favorite when all three are done. I received a review from APH1168kittens asking Meiko's age. She has no official age, so to fit theme of the story, I'd say 20-21, pretty much the same age as Kaito or Kiyoteru. And if anyone has an English translation of Kiyoteru's "MEIKO", I would appreciate it (I did use Google Translate to translate the kanji of the song, but Google Translate is almost always wrong, but I have a rough idea of the lyrics). Support KiyoteruxMeiko with me! Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Last chapter: Writers block makes weird things happen, okay? And your reviews on Kaitox? WILL affect the story later...so…tell me?**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_"Sekai de ichiban ohime-sama_

_Ki ga tsuite nee nee_

_Mataseru nante rongai yo_

_Watashi wo dare dato omotteru no?_

_Mou nanda ka amai mono ga tabetai!_

_Ima sugu ni yo_

_Oh, check one two... Ahhh-!"_ My scream was cut short by a painful hacking fit as I fell to the cold wooden floor of my rehearsal stage. The music continued to play for a few seconds before the other people realized I wasn't singing anymore.

"Ms. Hatsune! Are you okay?" My manager ran up to me in a panic, scribbling something down in his clipboard with a teal pen. Tell me' what could be more important than me coughing up blood on the floor? I looked up, almost glaring at him before bending over again into more severe hacking.

"Miku!" I heard Luka cry out. She had been backstage, preparing to rehearse Just Be Friends. I clutched my stomach with my left hand and held my right hand up to my forehead as I began to get dizzy. "Are you okay, Miku?" Luka's question was answered when I coughed up a bit of blood onto the wooden stage floor. "No, you're not! Umm, someone, call an ambulance! Miku's coughed up blood!" Luka desperately called out as she tried to get me to lie down.

"N-No, Luka, I-" More of my blood came out of my mouth as I violently coughed over and over again, some crimson dots staining my top and skirt. "W-What's going...on...?" I whispered to myself before I completely blacked out on the ground. The last thing I saw was a few men that looked like doctors standing over me, and Luka taking out her cellphone, probably to call the others.

I woke up in a small white room with IVs attached to my left arm, my hair out of its usual pigtails. I must have been out for a while. I was wearing some sort of white robe-thingy that you wear in a hospital. Looking out a window, I saw that it was already fairly late at night. And I never ate breakfast or anything due to my habit of procrastinating and being late, so that explains the IVs some. Luka was in the right corner of the room in a brown chair, reading some American book to practice her English. When she heard movement that wasn't page flipping, Luka looked up to see me awake in the hospital bed.

"Ah, Miku!" She bent a corner on the page she was reading and shut the book to come over. "Do you remember what happened?"

To be honest, most of what had happened was going through my memory as a quick blur, like someone was shaking the camera in my mind. Bits and pieces began to form together like a jigsaw puzzle until I got a reasonable understanding of what had happened just hours ago.

"Umm, some of it, I guess. I remember falling over, then there was red-I want to say blood-on the ground, then some guys came and you called people..." I trailed off, suspecting that I was still missing some parts.

"Yes, you have an overall view of what happened, but I'm surprised you don't have all of your memory back. Quite strange, actually," Luka had a look of worry on her face for her friend. "Nobody's sure what happened, but you were rehearsing World Is Mine. On the first scream, you started viciously coughing until you collapsed. We had to call an ambulance, and now your here. You lost a fair amount of blood from just coughing, though. Scary stuff. The doctors still haven't diagnosed you with anything, so they'll be keeping you here a few days," Luka explained. As she did, I gave another look around my surroundings. The window in front of me had a small potted plant in the windowsill, and it had light blue curtains. The walls were a freakishly bright white, and the sink counter to my far left was a dark mahogany, like Luka's chair. There were two chairs left of hers, and the tiles were in a white-light blue diagonal pattern across the floor. A small table was in the right corner of the room with some books, magazines, and manga piled on top on one another. There were also some cards, presumably get well cards from my friends and possibly some fans that somehow got news of the incident. I turned around, and hanging above me was a large painting of a tranquil garden scene in a decorated gold-colored frame. My hairbands were on the heart rate thingy, along with the outfit I had been previously wearing. Inspecting closer, the hospital had washed it, erasing the bloodstains.

"A few days here, huh?" I threw Luka a small smile to make her worry less than she really was. Luka had a talent-she could hide all her emotions so easily; it was like one of us trying to read Russian or something. But I knew Luka best, and she was more stressed and freaked out than she was letting on. Her eyes softened a bit, obviously relieved.

"Oh, that reminds me, let's see here- Kaito, Meiko, Rin, Len, Gumi, Miki, Gakupo, Yuma, Mizki, and a few others gave you some cards." Luka walked over to the corner table and picked up the handful of cards, each decorated with he or she's respective "icon", the Vocaloid family called them, something to make people remember their names. It works fairly well; leeks practically represent me as a person when I'm not there.

Luka gently set the cards on my lap, and then I proceeded to open each one, starting with the one on top. It was the Kagamines' card, decorated with oranges and banana stickers on every possible space on the card. It read:

_Hey, Miku!_

_Rin here. Oh, no! What happened! I got a phone call from Luka and she said that you were coughing blood! Geez, sounds awful! Well, get well soon, okay? See ya!_

_Yo, Len here. Dude, that sounds BAD, capital B. Rin put me on the phone and I heard everything that happened. Hope ya get well soon, Miku!_

_-Kagamines_

Aww, those two are so sweet in their own ways! I placed the card by my hairbands before continuing. I picked up the next card from Kaito:

_Miku!_

_Hey, I heard you passed out after quite the coughing fit on stage! What happened? You have to give more details when you come back, okay? You've got us all worried back here, Miku! Anyway, get well soon and I hope you feel better._

_Kaito_

I smiled a bit after reading this one; glad to know that everyone is concerned. Repeating the process of placing the card back with the Kagamine's, I almost robotically picked up the next one:

_Hey hey hey!_

_It's Gumi, but you knew that already! This seems bad, but knowing you, you'll be outta there in no time at all! I hope you're better and ready to sing for your concert soon, and I can't wait to have ya back!_

_Gumi!_

Energetic, as usual. And the process repeats once again:

_Dear Miku,_

_Oh, no! What happened here? I came over to the stage as soon as Luka called, but you were already gone, so I could only send a card. Sorry! I WOULD come today, but I have my rehearsals today, and I can't miss Akujiki Musume Conchita again. I'll drag Kaito and the others over ASAP, okay? Get well soon!_

_Meiko_

The process continued with cards from Miki, Rion, Gakupo, Yuma, Mizki, Yukari, Kiyoteru, and a few others back home until all the cards were read and stacked neatly beside my bed. Luka took them and organized them by the large sink counter.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Miku, but I have to go rehearse, too! Gosh, we all have our concerts this season, and at such a bad time...anyway, I'll be back later, 'k?" Luka ran over and picked up her American book before she shuffled out the door. "Get well soon, Miku!"

"Later, Luka!" I sighed as Luka closed the door behind her. Everyone really is busy right now. New songwriters and series and complicated things to make our heads spin, so "fun". I glanced at the wall clock to my left. 9:34PM. Oh, that's right; Luka had her practice pushed to ten tonight so she could visit. She really is too kind; she's gonna be exhausted in the morning. Especially when that man, umm, Mothy! Yeah, our latest songwriter has set up a huge series for us to practice. Over. And. Over. Hard stuff. With weird lyrics. Apparentely, it's some screwed-up storyline. What's cool is that he's featuring one of my childhood friends in the series on request! Whoohoo! Still, that concert isn't until much later, but so far, everyone participating, including I, absolutely sucks at his or her assigned songs. Ugh.

"Tired, may as well sleep..." I muttered under my breath. Best try and sleep off whatever came over me earlier. Goodnight..." I wasn't sure whom I was saying goodnight to before I drifted asleep in the comfortable hospital bed.

"You're first, Hatsune. Then, you watch. _You first_." A voice came from nowhere. There was nowhere for it to come from. I heard a small noise behind me, and then wheeled around to see the figure that attacked me in my nightmare a few weeks ago.

"N-No, you a-aren't real, no matter how real you seem!"

"You wait, Hatsune, you wait. You will wait, then watch. But you're first!" The voice screeched before lunging for my throat. Once again, my strength was instantly depleted and I couldn't fight back against her powerful grip.

I woke up in time to contain the scream on the edge of my lips. Instead, a loud gasp could probably be heard in the next room.

"I'm...first?" I whispered out loud to nobody. I took my phone off the side table and checked the time. 2:49AM. Great. Do I just wait here, or do I try to sleep again. I decided to text Luka; maybe she was still up studying her already-perfect English. Such a perfectionist, she needs to rest at some point. Seriously. It's freaky.

_2:51am. Miku: Luka? You up?_

_2:55am. Luka: Sadly._

_2:56am. Miku: Actually, good. It's happened again. The nightmare. Apparently, I'm "first." What the hell?_

_3:01am. Luka: Not good! Get a nurse or something!_

_3:02am. Miku: I can't just do that; it's three in the morning..._

_3:04am. Luka: I can't do anything, nor can anyone over here at the house. You might as well tell someone there what happened before it gets too out of hand._

_3:07am. Miku: Ugh...fine. If the nurses hate me from now on, it's on your head._

_3:08am. Luka: Deal._

From there, I pressed the "Call" button on a little blue remote that I could use to call in a nurse if I needed something. A quiet beep was heard, and then a few minutes later, a nurse entered my room.

"Ms. Hatsune, umm, good morning. What are you doing up so early?" The nurse softly asked. I read her nametag, which read Momone Momo. She had bubblegum-pink hair that reached just passed her shoulders, stunning emerald-green eyes. Her bangs were pulled to her left side, held in place by two small white clips, similar to Rin's. Her white uniform was decorated with a bit of green stitching on the bottom, and a large pink bow was worn like a necktie. A matching green, somewhat round cap was worn on her head.

"J-Just a bad dream, Ms. Momone, but I can't get back to sleep," I answered, unwilling to spill everything to someone I barely knew.

"Is that all? Dr. Suiga can come and bring you a quick sleeping aid, if you need!" Ms. Momone chirped with a grin. She walked out of the room for a minute or two, nice brown shoes making small clacking noises against the tile. She returned with a blonde man, a bit taller than herself. So this was Dr. Suiga. His nametag read Dr. Sora Suiga. His hair was slightly parted down the middle, and he wore khakis and a black shirt with a silver tie. His eyes were a very bright blue. A white doctor's coat was worn over all of this, and he seemed like a bubbly person, too.

"Good morning, Ms. Hatsune. What seems to be the trouble?" A smooth voice came out of the silence, Dr. Suiga smiling.

"Just a bit of trouble falling back asleep. Ms. Momone told me that you had a sleeping aid...?"

"Why, yes I do, Ms. Hatsune. I'll be right back, I left them behind the counter..." Dr. Suiga sheepishly muttered before rushing back to his desk. Ms. Momone and I shared a quick laugh.

"Dr. Suiga is always like this, he's a fun man to work with!" Ms. Momone let out another soft chuckle. I smiled in return, just as a flustered Dr. Suiga came through the door.

"I didn't misplace these." Dr. Suiga looked away, careful not to make contact after his awkward-ness. "And, Ms. Hatsune, call me Sora."

"Okay, I'll try to remember, umm, Sora?" It was even more awkward to call your _doctor_ by his first name like you have known him for years. Like, awkward silence filled the room, awkward.

"...Nevermind." And now I was slightly offended. Dr. Suiga must have had a screw loose somewhere up there, or he accidently "misplaced" his prescription with some drug that got in his system.

"..."

"Dr. Suiga, I think I can handle things from here," Ms. Momone gave a scary smile to Dr. Suiga, one almost too sweet to be "nice", and then glanced at the door. Dr. Suiga took the hint and used this chance to escape the strange tension in the room.

"Yes, you can handle a few sleeping drugs, Ms. Momone. Good...umm, night?" Dr. Suiga was gone in an instant after the comment that simply topped off the strange morning/night.

"I am SO sorry about Sora, Ms. Hatsune, he's a bit of an airhead sometimes, especially on nightshift. And if you are comfortable with this, call me Momo." Ms. Momone, or Momo, said while taking two small, round pills out of an orange bottle. I was actually confortable chatting with Momo, she was nice, and more importantly, normal.

"Okay, Momo!" I replied. Is it bad that I'm friends with my nurse? While I thought about this, Momo placed the two pills on the counter while she retrieved a cup of water to help me swallow. I took the pills in my hand and examined them out of boredom. Just plain white pills, nothing special.

"Here, Ms. Hatsune-" I cut her off, telling her to just call me Miku, then she continued. "Miku! Okay, just swallow these with this water. You should start feeling sleepy about 20-30 minutes after taking, so just close your eyes and try to sleep again, and you'll be fine!" Momo chirped; how was she so wide-awake so early in the morning?

"Thank you, Momo, I'll try to get back to sleep," If that nightmare doesn't come back again. I took the pills one at a time as Momo left my room, quietly shutting the door behind her. But before I went to sleep, I sang a few notes, just in case. Once again, I don't mean to brag, but P.E.R.F.E.C.T.! It was like I never had that coughing fit. But as soon as I tried to hit my higher notes as quietly as I could, I found it hard to not start hacking again. These notes weren't even near as high as the World Is Mine scream! I had to drink the rest of the water that Momo gave me to swallow the pills, but even then, my throat was still hurting like hell.

"Huh, I really am getting worse," I whispered to nobody before shutting my eyes again. In what felt like a few minutes, I was dead asleep.

This was weird. Creepy. Strange. I was the supposed "sacrifice," Miku was "the first". Even creepier, if my memory serves me correctly, Miku did say that night in my room that in her nightmare, part of it was that she couldn't sing or even speak, and now Miku is in the hospital because she coughed up blood _trying to sing_. And this is the first time anyone has been hurt physically. That hints that there could be more disturbances over time. If it is even slightly based on our nightmares, I could die from blood loss in my sleep.

I pulled my brown comforter up closer for warmth, and for whatever reason, people feel safer under blankets. Blankets are not shields. Feeling uncomfortable falling asleep, I tied my long pink hair back into a large ponytail and began to study my English. Again. Hey, practice means perfect, and no matter how good people say my English is, there is always some sort of incomprehensible mistake to English listeners. I pulled out a different American novel than the one from earlier and whispered the words of the book to myself as I read. I messed up a few times on strange accented words, but overall, I could read, understand, and speak English, even my Ls and Vs. For never going to America, I'll say I did fairly well. I learned English through my late parents, who made constant trips to America. I was always left with a nanny or at a friend's house for the time being. My parents always got me these English books to read and taught me how to speak it on their spare time. I was so little then, I can hardly remember what they looked like anymore. They were visiting the Twin Towers that day...

**FLASHBACK-September 12, 2001- Afternoon after 9/11.**

The phone was ringing. We didn't have caller ID, so I answered the call with nobody telling me not to, abandoning my headphones on the couch. Hi, I am Megurine Luka, and I am nine years old. My birthday is February third, and most people I know say that I am either very mature for my age or growing up too fast. I don't have an opinion; I just think I'm a bit smarter than them.

"Hello?" I answered with my sweetest voice I could muster.

"Is this Megurine Luka?" A gruff voice replied.

"Umm, yes. Do you need something?"

"Hello, my name is Kasane Ted. My sister and I were good friends with your parents. I'm afraid I do not bring good news, Ms. Megurine. Your parents were visiting the Twin Towers in America yesterday morning when this catastrophe..." My heart just stopped, right then and there. "I'm sorry to say that your parents didn't survive the attack."

"_WHAT ATTACK? WHAT HAPPENED TO MOM AND DAD?_" I screeched into the receiver. I never watched the news, it was boring! I wasn't listening to the radio, I was reading! Yes, nine-year old girls like read, rather than watch TV all day; what nobody expects is to see me reading ENGLISH! But that isn't important; what…happened…?

"Ms. Megurine, did nobody inform you of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11th?"

"No, this is the first I've heard of it...!"

"Well, just yesterday morning, around 8:50am, hijacked planes crashed into the Towers where your parents were at the time, destroying the buildings..." The man went on, describing the terrible tragedies that had just occurred while I was lazily sleeping at home. "Your father's body has not been found and he was presumed dead, and your mother died in the hospital due to severe burns and other injuries a few hours later. I am terribly sorry for your loss, Ms. Megurine. Do you have any relatives your parents organized you to stay with if something happened to them?" Ted asked me, grief in his deep voice.

"N-No, I don't have any relatives..." I cried between choked sobs. "My parents were both only children, and I also don't have any siblings,"

"I'm very sorry to hear that. The government will be working shortly do decide what to do with you, but for now, you will be staying in the Hope For A Light All-Female Orphanage for a few weeks. I have offered to take you under my wing, as your parents did trust me. Sadly, when their will was written, they had not met me or my sister, Teto, so it is unsure where you will end up," Fear struck my heart dead on. I was either staying in some orphanage or living with a man I had never met or even heard of! And my parents were never coming back home to me...

"O-Okay, I guess..."

"I will stop by your house at around 2:00 in the afternoon tomorrow to pick you up. I would recommend packing everything you want to take with you to the orphanage while we make arrangements, okay, Ms. Megurine?"

"Yes, I understand, Mr. Kasane." I was still crying my eyes out, so I was surprised he understood what I was saying.

"Please, call me Ted. I wish the best to you, Ms. Megurine, do take care." And with that, the man hung up the phone. Instead of being OCD about organization and order, I dropped the phone to the ground, my knees following shortly afterward. I allowed for what just happened to fully sink in. A terrorist killed my parents and I was alone, except for Kasane Ted, a man I never met. I cried into my hands until midnight, when I sulked into my room and cried into a pillow until two in the morning. By that time, I had stopped crying enough to start packing what I wanted: hairbrush, headphones w/iPod, and iPod charger, a majority of my clothes and shoes, and a pink and brown blanket. This filled about three large suitcases, filling every pocket to its fullest. I took a look in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, my face red. My short pink hair was free of its usual headband, so it looked a bit strange to me. I walked into my bathroom and washed my face, erasing the signs that anything had been wrong.

"What did I do...to deserve this?"

When I woke up, I found I had passed out on my bedroom floor, a family picture in my right hand. We all looked so happy in out white shirts and khakis on the beach, a slight breeze ruffling our hair. Dad was giving one of his goofy smiles, while Mom looked cheerier than usual. It made me want to cry when I looked at our smiling faces, how it was ripped away from some bad people who did a bad thing, but I had to look like a proper young lady. I hopped up, realizing I had yet to take a shower.

**15 minutes later...**

I climbed out of my shower, throwing on my pink bathrobe and wrapping a brown towel around my head to dry my hair. I walked back into my room to pick out my outfit when I looked down at our family picture again. It hurt to think about my parents anymore; I had to try to forget them and carry on. Just carry on.

I threw on a casual brown tank and white skirt, followed by a pair of brown boots with small pink bows decorating the sides. From there, I searched for my pink jacket before proceeding to dry my hair. Usually, I listened to music while getting ready for my day, but I knew that the radio only brought bad news. Anyway, my mind was focused on being prepared to leave. Glancing at my watch, I saw that the time was 1:24PM. I still had a little less than forty minutes to get ready to leave my home...possibly forever. No! No sad thoughts! Of course, they wouldn't die down that easily. I grabbed my headband, which I had left on the bathroom counter, and fashioned it into my hair. I can't wait until my hair gets really, really long!

After grabbing the small things that I'll never use and packed them up, I was ready to leave. By then, it was almost two, so I had to have my suitcases by the door. I waited for a few minutes before realizing that I was leaving something I would regret not taking-pictures. Frames, albums, everything with a picture of my parents inside. I rushed into the living room, grabbing a few small frames, then into my room, where the beach day photo lay on the ground. I picked that one up extra carefully before moving into the albums. I grabbed all of my favorites and a few extra before stuffing them into a whole other suitcase, adding up to four suitcases total. By the time I was done and laying on my back, the doorbell rang. I suspected it was Kasane Ted, so I moved toward the front door as fast as a girl could go with four heavy suitcases. I opened the door to see two people, a man and a woman.

"Hello, Ms. Megurine. I'm Kasane Ted, and this is my younger sister, Teto." Ted made a gesture toward the girl with the pink drill-shaped pigtails. Ted had very long pink hair that was tied back into a thin ponytail with a slight drill on the end of it. When I thought about it, Teto must have fairly long hair if she straightened it. In fact, they would probably have the same hair length! Ted wore a pair of glasses on his face while his sister did not. Teto wore a black skirt with hot pink tips and a gray vest-like top, also laced in hot pink. Ted wore a similar outfit, but more manly. His black shirt had long sleeves, less pink, and black army-style pants and boots. I found it funny to see such a serious man have pink hair with a swirl at the end; it looked so girly!

"Hello, Mr. and Ms. Kasane." I politely greeted the pair as they smiled almost simultaneously. They looked the same, but as if their personalities conflicted with each other's – Ted looked more serious as the get-down-to-business type of guy, while his sister looked like the bubbly, constantly cheerful type of person. I assumed they were twins based on their resemblance of each other. I wonder how they met my parents...was I warned about this? Wait, they _did_ mention the Kasanes at one point. Yeah, I'm good.

"Are you ready to go, Ms. Megurine?"

"Please, call me Luka."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**Don't worry; Luka's backstory isn't over yet! Not even close! I presume I will give the other main characters a nice story as to how they became afflicted with the Vocaloid singing group. Not all of them, just a few more. The UTAUS are background characters, often appearing on the side or, like in Luka's, were major parts of their lives in one way or another. So, with Miku in the hospital and Luka's tragic past being slowly revealed, what will happen next? You wanna find out? REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not my song, nor are the lyrics mine.**

**Song: Stardust Utopia**

**Artist: otetsu**

**Did I forget the disclaimer at the beginning? I think I did…hehe, well, I don't own Vocaloid. Or any UTAUs mentioned. Or any songs. Or references. You get the point.**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I followed Ted out the door, Teto carrying a suitcase, Ted carrying another, and I was carrying the last two. I couldn't bear to look back at my old house, afraid of the thoughts that would follow. What would happen to it? What will be left in my room? What about everything I couldn't pack? Will new people buy the house? I shook those thoughts away and continued behind the Kasanes.

"Ted! You should be carrying the second suitcase that little Luka is carrying! She's only nine, you know?" Teto was angrily shouting at her brother. "It's man's work, anyway!" Ted sent a look at his sister before turning to me. He let out a sigh aimed at Teto before asking me if I needed help carrying the suitcases.

I nodded my head before Ted took the second one with ease, which was quite impressive, as these were heavy and I was having a lot of trouble with them.

"Good, Ted nii-chan!" Teto said in a sugary-sweet voice, made just to bother her brother.

Ted sighed again before replying, "Don't call me that, Teto, we _are_ adults," Teto gave a fake pout before returning to handling everything she carried. It was awkward to be standing there while they bickered on and on about every little thing that came to mind. And I didn't exactly like being referred to as "little", as I am almost ten. And I am smarter than all the kids that are, well, were in my class. I held straight "A"s every year. "Little" was not a term that suited me. Well, in my opinion.

Through all the pauses between arguments, after much longer than it should have been, we made it to the car. It was a white SUV. Sadly, there wasn't much detail to this car; it was fairly plain. Just...white. No scratches, no scars, nothing.

Ted set down the larger of the two suitcases and pulled some keys out of his right pocket. "Keys, keys...oh, here we go." He pressed a small red button on a black plastic thing that hung off the keychain. The car beeped, and a little red dot lit up above the button. Ted hit a button below the first one, and after a second, the backlights lit up and the trunk began opening on its own. He shoved the key ring back in his pocket and motioned for Teto and I to go over to the trunk.

Teto was the first over, heaving the suitcase she carried into the left side of the large trunk. Ted followed curtly after her, doing the same with the two. Surprisingly enough, he didn't appear to have much trouble. Neither did Teto, so they both were fairly strong, though Ted was obviously stronger than his sister. I, on the other hand, was one of those people that others called "skinny as a rail". I didn't have much physical strength. Teto noticed that I was having trouble getting the other half of the suitcase into the trunk; so she grabbed the other side and helped me hoist it up.

"Thank you," I muttered.

Teto gave back a cheerful smile. "No, no problem!" Was she always energetic and happy about something? If so, and if I do end up staying with the Kasanes, this is going to be oh-so fun.

I hope they have some good novels.

"So, do you two live together?" I felt a need to ask, considering they were siblings, so one would presume "no", but...

"No, I'm just staying with Ted until I can rent an apartment...well, a new one, anyway. There was a fire in my last one because while I was out, things fell crashed into one another until something hit the burner. So I decided to crash here until arrangements can be made. I probably shouldn't have stacked all those cans on top of each other like that! Considering I don't have much money, you know, it's a bit difficult..." Teto answered, a slightly solemn look on her face. But, being herself, she brightened up quickly. "But don't worry! Nothing important was too badly damaged, just the apartment itself. I'm not at a huge loss, just the loss of a place I never got attached to, and so I'm good!" Even Ted smiled at this. At least he finally showed affection for his sister outside petty arguments. Until he noticed that I noticed, then he quickly changed his demeanor. That desperate to be "cool" and "serious", huh, Ted? He may be an interesting person.

I felt bad for her, even though I was currently enduring MUCH worse. Still, I had to keep my mind off of that. The quicker it's over, the better. Less tears, less pain, less stress, less worries, better future. That was my plan. Until the funeral, anyway.

I gave Teto a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, so how long will you be staying with your brother?"

Teto thought for a second before walking over to shotgun. "Hmm, that's a bit hard to say. It all depends on money and insurance, really. Things are still being worked out, and I've recently taken a job as a waitress down town at the Utah Diner. Great place, actually! Friendly people, good food. Basically, I give myself no more than two months. By then, I should be on my own again," Teto trailed off.

Ted continued for her. "Yeah. At the Utau Diner, sometimes they have karaoke nights. Teto once got a bonus for performing when she was off the clock. She's a pretty good singer, she could probably make money elsewhere if she tried." Teto blushed at his compliment, most likely uncertain of her singing abilities.

"I-I'm not that good a singer, Ted! I couldn't go professionally! Luka here is probably better than I am!" Teto pointed at me. I just stood there. Was I supposed to sing now? I decided, what the heck, might as well sing. I'm not embarrassed by it, and Toto's probably better.

_"Kyou mo yozora ni ukabeta higenjitsu no naka_

_Makkuro na KYANBASU ni hoshi wo egaku_

_Seijaku, meguru honnou to sugaru beki nanika_

_Mata hibikiwataru tenshi no sakebi_

_Kanaderu himei wa haitoku no shirabe_

_(Hakanaku chiri yuku sekai de)_

_Kirei na hoshizora wo kirisaite furaseta namida_

_Mai-odoru hoshikuzu nagameta yoru wa mada waratteta_

_Naite ita iki wo shite ita_

_Seijaku, nagareru jikan to mamoru beki nanika_

_Utsuri konda fuan to ibitsu na tsuki_

_Egaita kibou wa musaishoku no hana_

_(Hakanaku chiri yuku sekai de)_

_Todokanu hoshizora miagete_

_Koborete shimaisou na hoshikuzu_

_Kiete shimawanu you ni mamotteta_

_Negatteta shiawase datta_

_Moshi mo sora ga hagare ochite mo_

_Nando demo nuritsubuseru kara_

_Kono rasen no naka_

_Kanaderu himei wa haitoku no shirabe_

_(Hakanaku chiri yuku sekai de)_

_Kirei na hoshizora wo kirisaite furaseta namida_

_Kagayaita omoi_

_Mai odoru hoshikuzu egaita kono machi de_

_Waratteru naite iru ikite iru_

_Kyou mo mata yozora ni egaita higenjitsu_

_Nani mo ka mo nogareyou no nai genjitsu"_

I sang. I had written the song a few months ago out of boredom. So far, it has no title or music. Just lyrics and melody. I spend forever getting this right, and now the Kasanes' jaws were on the ground.

"Luka...that...was...FREAKING AMAZING!" Teto squealed loudly, causing Ted to put his hands over his ears.

"Teto, calm down for half a second, please! Luka, that was brilliant! I really am stunned, you have a gift. Seriously, I need to hook you up with a music producer or something..." Ted casually thought out loud.

"Yes! We should! Yay, Luka! Yahoo!"

_Was I really that good?_ I failed to transfer from my thoughts to words after that. I liked to sing; all my friends have heard me and I did a solo in choir once. Of course, they all told me I was good. I just assumed that it was out of respect and kindness. All friends have something good to say about his or her friend. And the song wasn't that good, either, considering it was a choir of seven-year olds...but two years can change a person, I guess. "Umm...thank you. I didn't think I was _that_ good, but...okay." I replied after a few incredibly awkward seconds.

Teto was the first person to ask me this, in extremely broken English, "Do yoo supeeku machu Engurishu?" Or, "Do you speak much English?" I found it hard not to laugh at her attempt at the language, so I just repeated what she said, but not so broken and awkward.

"Do you speak much English?"

Ted laughed at this. "Well, she sings and speaks English! Seriously, we need to get you at a record company, Luka!" He paused before returning to his previously serious state. "Okay, lets get in the car, shall we?" Ted walked over from the trunk over to the driver's seat and yanked the door open. Teto did the same at shotgun, and I got one of the many seats in the back.

I couldn't help but notice that there were WAY too many seats back here for someone who I assumed had no children. "Umm, I have a quick question. Why are there so many seats back here?"

Teto looked back to answer. "Ted often has other family than I come to visit, like our cousins. They have bigger families, so with how often they visit, we keep extra room."

"Oh, okay."

We listened to some music on the way there. It wasn't much, but it prevented awkward silence. Just some boy bands that have gotten popular. I wished I had a book, but all the ones I packed were in my boulder-like suitcases, and those were in the trunk. I would love to see somebody attempt to get those while the car is moving! There was no way to keep my mind off of anything, especially my old house, my late parents, and all the emotional trauma. And staying with the Kasanes for the time being, and the risk of an orphanage and either A.) Being forced to live with parents that you don't _really_ love if I go to an orphanage. B.) Be forced to live in an orphanage for the rest of my miserable life as the one who was never adopted (unless the Kasanes take me in!)

I prefer option (B). Or the unsaid (C), where I don't go to the orphanage and I get to stay with the Kasanes, who already like me and know what I like and can support me for the rest of my life! But that is highly unlikely, so I hope they adopt me!

"Luka? Luka, are you okay back there?" Teto's voice snapped me out of my daze, so I was a bit surprised at the sudden outburst.

"Hmm? Oh! Y-Yes, I'm fine,"

"You sure? You're stuttering~!"

Ted interjected, "Teto, don't bother the girl now, leave her alone!"

Teto pouted, but returned to her natural bubbly state when some song came on. Apparently, this song was a popular one by yet ANOTHER boy band. Teto began to sing along and waving her arms to the beat in shotgun, receiving annoyed glances from Ted.

Ted finally lost it, so he changed the station. Teto wordlessly changed it back. Ted changed it. Teto changed it. The pattern repeated until Teto caught my glare in the mirror. Ted followed her glance and left the station alone, deciding he had lost the fight.

The rest of the ride was mostly silence, save for the radio playing, until Teto asked a question out of the blue:

"Do you miss them?"

Her voice sounded as if all hope was just lost in one swift movement, like there was nothing anybody could do. Well, nobody _could _do anything. Except for God, maybe. If He took the time.

If He really exists, which I have recently begun to doubt. If He really loved everyone on Earth, then why do so many people suffer all the damn time? That's why I have doubts.

I found it hard to respond. Yes, of course I miss them, more than anything on the planet. But, sadly, I already know that there is nothing I can do. I woke up from the illusion of "life" years ago, resulting in myself maturing quicker than others. Everyone is under a spell, believing whatever they can see, and deciding to believe what they feel they need to, just to have faith in something inhuman, unreal. So, as a result, I moved on. Will I see my parents, the only people I decided I would single out and accept as part of the illusion, once again in some afterlife? A new life? Nobody knows until it happens. But if one is reborn, then they don't remember his or her past life, or their death, so they don't remember being reborn; therefore, they forget the answer they longed for. A vicious circle.

"Well, yes, of course I do. But I can't cry anymore. I can't harp on the past. If I do, I can never properly move on and accept what can't be changed."

Teto and Ted looked shocked when I looked up into the rearview mirror. They probably hadn't expected something like that from a nine year-old girl.

"That…is so true, Luka. I'm impressed, and you should be proud of your brilliant mind and ability to accept things like that happening without forgetting about your natural emotions. You accomplished something so many people attempted in the past without trying. But it is okay to cry, so if you have to, feel free. Nobody is stopping you." Ted's deep voice echoed in my heart. _But it is okay to cry, so if you have to, feel free. Nobody is stopping you. _It was tattooed there forever, and I probably would never forget it.

Teto looked as if she would cry. "Luka, I wish I could be mature like you…but in reality, I'm just a child, younger than you, and I can't believe that you have to accept that, but, as you said, we can't move on if we live in the past like we all have a habit of doing. But if you never cry and release those feelings, then it may just be impossible to move on, even if you think you have…"

Words refused to come out of my mouth. Honestly, both Kasanes were right; I probably needed to cry again. But no matter how hard I try, no matter how many depressing thoughts I think of, tears won't form. I've cried myself out.

"You are right." I don't know if my voice reached them, it was fairly soft to my own ears. But that moment is gone, so, as I said, accept and move on. Maybe they did. Maybe not.

Then, the rest of the car was filled with the eerie sounds of the radio playing too softly to make out any words, but loud enough to hear drumbeats or guitar chords.

I stared out the window and into the sunny day outside. People continued with his or her daily activities; watering plants, mowing grass, children playing outside. I wished that I could be one of those children, playing tag with my friends or my parents, while trying not to be hit by the hose. But I guess it wasn't for me. Unless my fate changes and I can still play outside with friends and without a care in the world. Ah, yes, that would be nice. But at the same time, it is giving into the illusion. But maybe I want to give into the illusion and "live" a normal "life". Become an actress in the play instead of a spectator.

…How much longer could the car ride be?

As soon as I thought up that question, Ted pulled up into a driveway that led to a red brick house with a large garage on the right. The windows had white curtains, and the front door was a matching white with a gold knocker and door handle. There was a second story, which was surprising, considering Ted claimed to usually live alone. He must have had a fair amount of money to afford the place.

"Impressed, Luka? You might be living here someday, you know," Ted's cheerful voice rang out in the silence. I realized my mouth had hit the floor and I immediately regained myself before I embarrassed myself more. Teto giggled before stepping out of the SUV, Ted doing the same. He walked over to my door and opened it up for me,

"Luka-same, you may step this way." Ted tried to make a joke, but his face was so serious, it was hard to tell whether to laugh or not. I smiled at his efforts, stepping out of the car. Ted shut the door behind me with a _slam,_ and we walked over to the front door, where Teto was standing.

"Ted, you have the keys. Now use them, please!" I swear Teto could be a drill sergeant. Very demanding, very forceful, very powerful, and an aura that demanded attention. Sometimes, I wished I could be a bit more like that.

Ted sighed, "Be patient, Teto. You can be such a child sometimes. I have to get Luka's stuff out of the trunk."

"I am _not_ a child, Ted! Just bring the keys over." Teto began tapping her right boot to show her impatience and boredom.

Ted hadn't moved. "Only children pout and tap their feet to say they want something."

Teto was furious at his remark. Apparently, she hated being called a child, and it was written all over her face, which was twisted into a scary grimace, and her pink eyes showed red and yellow flames behind them.

"I was the first to move out and go to college!" Teto announced with triumph, waving her index finger and winking. Even her drill-like pigtails had a bit of an extra bounce when she said this. The fire had disappeared and was replaced with a slight sparkle.

Now, Ted looked a bit angry. His face was beginning to turn red, and the glare behind the glasses was a bit frightening. Ah, sibling rivalry is a funny thing to watch sometimes.

"Well, look who's back."

"Bas…go to he…da…I can't insult you right here, Ted, but this is not over!" Smooth, Teto. Almost swearing in front of the precious little girl, hmm? Oh well, I already had a wide vocabulary range, in both Japanese and English. I could probably cuss them both out in English and they wouldn't know what I was saying!

I decided to put a complete stop to the fighting, maybe to prevent them from continuing later. "I don't mean to be rude or rush you, but can we please go inside. I have to use the bathroom." Straight-up lie; I went before we left and I haven't had anything to drink since then. The Kasanes believed me and opened the front door.

Inside, it was like a mansion. There was a stairway to the right and the walls were a light-cream color with bright white shelves and frames, where pictures of Ted, Teto, and people who I assumed were their parents, all hung nicely. On the shelves were small trinkets and souvenirs, every now and then, a fake, tiny potted plant to give the room life. A large clock hung on the wall in front of the door, about eight feet away. The rug that lay by the door was a light yellow with white swirly designs along the edges. This house made my old home look awful! I hated to admit it, but I was very jealous of this place.

"Wow, the house is beautiful," I thought out loud. The twins turned around, Teto to thank me for the compliment, and Ted to fetch the luggage out of the trunk. He walked out the door, and I decided to follow so I could be the nice little girl and help my possible new family. New family. Please, like families can _really _be replaced. Physically, yes, but the family ties that were built cannot be brought back in people's hearts. Ugh, I _hate_ giving into the illusion!

Still, it would be the polite thing to go and help.

Teto saw what we were doing and sprinted ahead of Ted in order to not be caught with the heaviest suitcase. He didn't seem to mind because he knew he would end up with the heaviest suitcase, no matter if he got first pick or not. Teto would take the ones that weren't too heavy, I would take the lightest, and Ted would take the heaviest because he is a man. My mom told me that it is one of the unspoken laws that a man always does the heavy work. Not because women are lazy, but because men love to show off, and if a woman did the hard work, then the man's ego would be forced back down and they would feel bad all day. At least, that's what people say. I think men are just show-offs sometimes.

I decided to have race with Teto out of my endless boredom, "Teto, wait up!" I ran ahead of Ted and over to the open trunk of the SUV, where Teto was laying suitcases on the concrete.

"Hey, Luka! Here, I'll take this one," Teto pointed to a suitcase on the ground, "Ted will take those two," Ah, yes, those were the heaviest ones. "and you, Luka, will take this one." Teto picked up the smallest one I had brought, which wasn't much different in size from the others. My guess would say that it was smaller by a few square inches, at most.

That was when I made the proposition for the race. "Teto, have an idea for a game! Because the front door is all the way over there, we can race to see who can get the most suitcases inside the fastest. But we have to carry them all the way there." For once, I used my deeply buried childish senses to come up with a stupid game that would be fun for all of thirty seconds. Teto got a competitive gleam in her eye, even though it wasn't much, just a race against a child carrying suitcases. What was so cool about that?

"You're on, Luka. Okay! Get your suitcases ready…" We each grabbed our respective suitcases and firmly grasped the ends of our respective suitcases. "On your mark, get set, GO!" With that, Teto and I raced from behind the car at such slow speeds it wasn't even funny. Those damn suitcases were just too heavy to move quickly with.

"Why…are they…so heavy…Luka?" Teto spoke between heavy breathes, still trying to move faster than she physically could.

"I put…everything…inside them!" I deeply inhaled and used all my might to pull myself forward. One would think I put rocks in the luggage! But no, just the important stuff. I guess I had a lot of important stuff. "Almost there!" Teto and I made it to the front door at the same time, almost throwing the suitcases in through the door before sprinting back for another. We found Ted wheeling one of the heavy ones to the front door, staring at us like we were nuts.

"What ya' lookin' at, Ted?" Teto sent him a devilish smile. I arrived behind her moments later while she was looking for a lighter suitcase to carry. I did the same, lightly tugging the straps of each one to quickly determine how heavy it might be. But before I could finish, Teto was off and running again with a suitcase in her arms.

"Why are they so much harder to carry than to roll?"

"I dunno! They just…are!" I had paused to hoist a random suitcase up. I pulled grabbed the other end and pressed it against my chest and began to run. It sucked to see Ted calmly walk past me like he was carrying no weight. Of course, they seemed lighter when you wheeled them and you weren't running as fast as you could. And he's stronger, so he had an advantage. Also, you just can't run very fast with thirty pounds in your arms. And to make matters worse, the suitcase was really pulling me down as I tried to keep moving uphill.

Not exactly "fun" anymore, I'll say. I couldn't believe one of my ideas was _running uphill with suitcases the weight of boulders. Great idea, Luka. Just great._

I'm not even going to describe the rest of the game. It was just running like idiots in eighty-degree weather. I will say that Teto and I tied in the end, mostly because Ted took one suitcase before leaving us to our game (I assumed he was cleaning the house or something), leaving Teto and I with an even number – two. We each got only two suitcases up before we were out of breath and there was nothing more to carry.

Trudging inside, I heard Ted's voice come from down the corner, "Luka, you said earlier you had to use the restroom. It's to your right, and then keep going straight. It's the second door on the left!"

It took me a moment to remember that I had told him that I had to use the bathroom, and I had almost forgotten. "Thank you," I called before following his simple directions. I spun to the right and saw a long hallway with many hanging pictures of all sorts of things, such as trees, animals, unknown people, and a family photo from when the Kasanes were about seven, I would guess? The family looked happy. Mrs. Kasane had long pink hair in a low ponytail that reached her mid-back and bright pink eyes. I saw where the twins got their looks. Her smile was warm and her happiness in the picture was contagious. The father, on the other hand, had short black hair and glasses over emerald green eyes. Ted's face shape and glasses obviously came from his father. It was funny how Teto looked just like her mother and Ted looked like his father (Well, his face did, not his hair or eyes _at all_, that was definitely his mother's), but the twins looked exactly the same.

Ted's hair wasn't quite as long, but it was still held back into a pink ponytail with the same swirl on the end. Only the ponytail reached a bit fast his shoulders and he looked happier and more carefree. His white t-shirt hung loosely on him, and his khakis reached just past his knees. Even his glasses looked a bit bigger on his face.

Teto looked almost exactly the same – same drills, same happiness is her eyes, same smile. The same Teto in general, but in beach-white clothing. Her white tank top had a bit of sand on it, and her khaki uniform-like skirt reached just above her knees. Ted's arm was hung over her shoulder, but she didn't seem to mind at all. Where as nowadays, Teto would have playfully shoved his arm off of her, if Ted ever wanted to do _that_ again.

I remembered that I was supposed to have to go to the bathroom, so I let the picture be and looked for the second door on the left. There were a lot of doors, so I could see where I would mess up and open every other door before finding the right one!

"First…second. Here it is," I turned the handle and swung the door open. Even the bathroom was nicer than mine at my old home! The porcelain counter had a nice sink in the center with a gold-colored faucet. The hand towels were white with a small blue seashell in the center to match baby blue walls and the rug in front of the toilet on a white-tiled floor. I stared for a second at the beauty and class of the entire place. The fact that such a small room of such a use was so lovely and cleaned up made me wonder what the bedrooms and the kitchen looked like. Probably fit for royalty!

Maybe I really wouldn't mind living here. Maybe I could have a proper childhood here and live out my early years in happiness. Maybe I would fully give into the illusion of life like a normal person and enjoy myself like a normal girl at a normal school. Start over and make new friends.

_Maybe._

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**UWAAAH! This took forever! And tests and classes and shit got in the way of me working on this! But it got done, and I'm proud. Tell me – do you want me to continue Luka's story, or leave it be and leave you in suspense so that I can go back to Miku and the rest of the family, leaving you wondering when I will write out the rest of Luka's life? Because I don't know, and I have ideas for both Miku and Luka's past. What should go next? REVIEW! If you do, you will be officially deemed awesome. Yeah.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Don't worry; Luka's story isn't quite over! Hope you didn't forget about Miku...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song Jewelfish, any references, or Vocaloid. GOT IT?**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

My sight was a bit blurry when I woke up.

Woke up? When did I fall asleep?

Oh...the pills.

That's right, I was texting Luka, and then Dr. Suiga came in. What a nutcase. Then Momo, and now I'm still here. Not like I expected to be someplace else. That's just stupid.

Rubbing my eyes, I hesitantly sat up, wincing at the slight pain from having not moved much for a while. It hurts your muscles after a while, I guess! I shifted my legs a bit to get the stiffness out and noticed that my hair wasn't in it's usual pigtails-rather, I was laying on it. I could feel the thick locks under my legs, which was quite uncomfortable, to say the least. I turned my head and saw my signature square ribbons on a beeping machine to my left. Like that was a surprise; I remembered looking around the other night. Probably should've taken better note of my surroundings...oh, well! No problem-o!

Stretching my arm to reach them, I made an involuntary grunt in my effort. "Hnng...come on!" My fingers grazed the corner of one band, but it was just out of reach. I barely took notice that my speaking voice was a bit rough, but I didn't have a cough at the time or anything wrong that I knew of. As far as I was concerned, I was fine.

My arm slumped to my side when I gave up. I used my other arm to run my fingers through my slightly shorter teal locks that rested on my shoulders and chest. Twirling them around, I lazily pulled my other arm up and began to braid. When I was done, I had many small, open braids hanging loosely on my shoulders. Sadly, I had no small hair ties, or any, for that matter.

"Didn't kill enough time," I said out loud. That time, I noticed that my voice was held at a forced, slightly raspy whisper. "What?" I attempted to raise my voice, but halfway through the word, it cracked and ended in another broken whisper.

I frantically scanned the room for anything, preferably a drink. On my left was a small paper cup with green flowers on the sides. It was closer to me than my ribbons, so I rashly threw my arm out to reach it, knocking it on the floor.

But even if I had picked up the cup, there would be no point; there was no water in it after I had the pills...

I swear I have memory loss or something, because I can't seem to remember much of last night without heavy thinking. Of course, it could be a side effect. Or not. What do I know?

"Damn!" I slammed my fist on the bit of mattress next to me and began undoing the braids in panic. Like that was going to get me somewhere.

"Think, think, and think. Ooh! Think like Luka, she's smart, right?" Yes, Luka always thinks logically!

Calming down, I realized something-I could simply ASK for water and go on vocal-rest for a bit.

HA! I am smart like Luka!

I pressed my handy blue button with a smile plastered on my face in pride of myself. When Momo daintily walked in with the _clack_ing of her heels against the tile, I forced the grin off my face and went into serious-mode.

Momo smiled and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "Ah, good morning, Ms. Hats-erm, Miku. Did the sleeping pills work well last night?" I noticed Momo was holding a file with lots of papers of all colors sticking out the sides. It was just a bit concerning, but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and brought forth the ones I needed to talk about.

"My voice..." I scratched. Momo's cheery face switched to a small frown, eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, dear. Here, let me get you a glass of water." Momo glided over to the sink and reached up to a small cabinet, pulling out a paper cup, like the one I knocked over. She hastily turned the tap and filled the small cup up a bit over halfway before coming over to me.

I nodded as a "thank you" and took a few sips of the water, but almost spit it out when it burned my throat. The water wasn't hot, but my throat burned like it was lit on fire and I just chugged a gallon of gasoline.

"F-Fu-!" I almost shouted something quite vulgar at the top of my lungs, and I would have if my throat wasn't slowly killing me and Momo wasn't next to me. Don't really want that getting out...

Momo gasped and snatched the cup from my hands. "Dr. Suiga, to Ms. Hatsune's room, ASAP!"

Outside, I heard feet shuffling across the tile and into my room. Dr. Suiga's eyes looked tired. I wanted to say that he was forced to stay the morning, too. Poor guy. I would feel more sorry, but my throat starting to feel like it was destroying me from the inside out.

"What – Ms. Hatsune!" Dr. Suiga saw the look on my face and hurried over to my side, nearly shoving Momo out of he way. Momo glared at the doctor as if telling him to actually do something. Of course, I wouldn't mind that, either.

"Dr. Suiga, something must have been in the tap! As soon as she began drinking, it appears her throat is in pain!" Ha, you think?

"Ms. Momone, please fetch more doctors and water that is NOT from he tap!" Dr. Suiga tried not to look tired or panicked, but the bags under his eyes and the overall expression on his face completely gave it away. Momo nodded and fled out of the room. I noticed through the intense pain that she left the thick file on the sink counter when she got me the water that put me in this situation.

"O-Okay, Ms. Hatsune, please try to calm down. Can you speak?"

Oh. My. God. I would if I could, for God's sake! I resisted fiercely glaring at the blonde and nodded "no", clasping my throat.

"Does it feel like you are choking? Here, lay down!" Jut as I was about to nod again, Sora almost shoved me back into my pillow. From there, a session of questions, nods, and glares began.

"Suffocating?"

Nod.

"Roughness?"

Nod.

"Burning?"

A furious "yes".

"Okay, burning! Are you breathing fine?"

Nod, "yes".

"Good, good...WHERE ARE THE OTHER DOCTORS? NURSES, ANYONE? What time is it...10:37, okay. I asked for nurses at 10:33!" Dr. Suiga angrily shouted out the door, where a startled Momo came rushing in with more nurses, carrying lots of strange equipment I didn't recognize. Impatient, much?

Momo began giving orders to the other nurses. There seemed to be quite a surplus amount of help for something that could probably be fixed... _DAMN IT. IT HURTS LIKE I SHOVED THE FIRES OF HELL DOWN MY THROAT!_

"Satou! Find the phone number of the main Vocaloid residence and give them a call. If they don't pick up, leave a message. Make sure to describe Ms. Hatsune's predicament!" A woman somewhere in the back dashed out of the room.

Okay, so who's gonna help me out here?

A different nurse that was standing beside Momo opened a small plastic bottle-like container and pulled out a popsicle stick. She handed it to Momo, quickly closing the container again.

"Thank you," Momo nodded to the nurse. "Ms. Hatsune, can you open you mouth up wide. Say-well, don't say '_Ahh_', but let me see the back of your throat, please!" Momo walked past Dr. Suiga, who was busily taking notes on an official-looking piece of paper. She leaned over me, prodding me to open my mouth. I did as I was supposed to, the pain not giving me a break. The popsicle stick pressed down on my tongue, and I extended my burning neck slightly forward so Momo could see whatever she needed to see back there. The young nurse made a few unreadable faces, then proceeded to bring Sora over, which probably wasn't good news. Seriously, what the hell happened here?

Dr. Suiga's eyes widened.

"Who...What is this...? Get Ms. Hatsune to an emergency room!" Shit. Just...shit.

Momo spoke next, her green eyes filled with worry and stress. "Dr. Sora, what is it?"

"It looks as if some sort of acid was poured down Ms. Hatsune's throat. It's extremely inflamed and irritated, it looks quite painful. We might need to do surgery to see what's wrong and how to reverse it!"

Umm, excuse me? Surgery? I don't want surgery! No! Not okay!

My eyes widened, and Momo seemed to take notice.

"It's okay, Miku. Everything should go well, you have nothing to worry about." Momo attempted to smile at me, as if something as small as a smile would clear up the situation! Like hell! I think it's official that I am NOT in a good mood, and it doesn't seem like anything's gonna help that, dammit!

"Ms. Momone, how are we going to knock her out long enough to operate?" A nurse spoke up, holding pills that I guess I was expected to swallow.

Momo frowned and wore her thinking face. "Takahashi, fetch some anesthesia. Ms. Hatsune, are you fine with breathing this is?" Do I have a choice? I nodded "yes", and the nurse called Takahashi turned on her heel and out the door. Dr. Suiga and Momo were trying to keep me calm, while other nurses prepared to wheel my bed into an operating room. Dr. Suiga continued to note all the little things; did I have a fever, trouble moving, breathing, all the somewhat expected.

Takahashi returned, telling Momo that the anesthesia was prepared in the operating room. Before I knew it, I was wheeling through the halls in unbelievable pain in my throat.

When did it begin to hurt to breathe? It felt like the oxygen I was inhaling was actually sharp knives cutting up the back of my throat!

I began urgently tapping my throat and glancing frantically at the nurses and doctors surrounding me, until Dr. Suiga noticed me panicking.

"Ms. Hatsune, are you having trouble breathing?" What do _you think_? "The patient is beginning to have breathing troubles!" Dr. Suiga paused to look at my throat again. "Her throat is swelling up!"

"What?"

"Is it an allergic reaction?"

"No, it couldn't be! She was just drinking water!"

A flurry of voices passed over me until I just zoned out and focused on the almost overwhelming pain and not suffocating myself.

Why is my vision going out?

Feeling...light-headed...

Shit, where'd everyone go?

"Ms. Hatsune! Please respond!"

"She's not responding!"

What...why can't I...hear anything...anymore? Why can't I see anything?

I couldn't fight the darkness the enveloped me after I lost all connection and feeling to the outside world, and fell into the darkness that seemed to have no end. It was getting harder to breathe by the second, so at some point, I couldn't fight the process of passing out. There was no sound, no color, no feeling. No...nothing.

Pitch-black nothing.

"aRe YOu afRAId?"

At this time of the morning, most members of Vocaloid weren't up, save for the children and Kiyoteru, the early bird. Most assumed he was crazy.

A day without Hatsune Miku was a fairly quiet day. Miku was energetic, a bit loud sometimes, and quite perky. But she was also in the hospital, which frightened everyone in the mansion. Miku temporarily lost her voice. In her nightmare, she claimed to have lost her voice. And if the impossible is true, and Luka was being stabbed and Iroha tortured...

There could be some serious problems.

When the house phone, or the "master phone", as it was nicknamed (considering everyone has a private cell phone, so a call on the house phone MUST be a big deal), rang at the somewhat earlier hours, Kiyoteru was a bit surprised. He adjusted his glasses on reflex and strided over to the wall phone. There was no caller I.D. on the master phone, so it could be anyone. _Hopefully not a fan,_ Kiyoteru thought. He picked up the phone and brought it up to his right ear.

"Hello, this is the Vocaloid Residence, Kiyoteru Hiyama speaking."

"Hello, Mr. Kiyoteru. This is Satou Nana, and I am currently part of Hatsune Miku's care team. Are you a guardian of Hatsune Miku?" This question slightly shocked the man. He was never really asked this, and the news she was prepared to bring didn't seem great.

"Well, umm, yes?" Technically, Kiyoteru was a legal adult and often stepped in as a guardian, but...

"Ms. Hatsune is about to undergo surgery when an unknown source greatly irritated her throat, appearing to be a type of acid."

"What? Acid?"

"Dr. Suiga is not sure, but that is what it appears to be. Ms. Hatsune is suffering from a server abnormal burning, so we have to undergo surgery-"

Kiyoteru cut her off. "I-I understand. Will she be okay?" He began pacing, causing Yuki, who was eating a bowl of cereal on the table across the room, to become a bit concerned.

"We believe Ms. Hatsune will be alright after surgery and treatment."

"Okay, thank you for informing me."

"It was no problem, sir. Thank you for your time!" With that, the nurse hung up.

Kiyoteru didn't know what to do, who to tell-

"What happened?" Yuki asked, standing up from her chair. Her pigtails were barely hanging in her black hair, bangs shooting out in every direction.

What should I tell her, Kiyoteru thought. "W-Well, Miku is going through stuff at the hospital," he carefully began.

Yuki frowned. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Of course, Yuki. Now, go finish your breakfast. I have to go talk to Big Meiko, okay?" Kiyoteru scratched the back of his head nervously. Yuki had always had a habit of wanting to know more and more until she had every single little detail. Sometimes, she was mistaken as nosy, but she was just curious, always wanting more knowledge. If Yuki pried too much into this situation, she could get scared or upset.

"...Fine then." Yuki sat back down without looking at her teacher and began eating a large, shiny apple that was sitting in the middle of the table in a huge basket with other fruits. An angry bite was taken, and she was beginning to have an upset aura. Yuki could handle mornings, but sometimes, the child didn't sleep right and woke up weird. Probably the fear of those nightmares that around. Well, whatever it was didn't leave the nine-year old in a pleasant mood.

Kiyoteru felt bad, but he had to go get Meiko. Which meant waking her up. Like poking an angry dragon. A huge, red, pissed-off dragon. The man deeply sighed, _I bet she's going to hate me after this..._

He kept his head up high, ran a hand through his brown hair, and continued strutting to Meiko's bedroom. She had a reason for choosing her bedroom to be so far away from the door and the kitchen: so she wouldn't be disturbed when everyone else woke up. Of course, the Kagamines, Aoki Lapis, and Gakupo had habits of sleeping in 'till dinner of you let them. Meiko woke up around noon, sometimes until two in the afternoon. The fact that it was around 10:40 AM meant that Meiko would not wake up a happy camper. Still, Kiyoteru decided it was best, even it cost his own life, to wake up the "leader" of the Vocaloids.

Still, Kiyoteru thought he needed at least a pillow to protect his vital regions. As a result of his "brilliant" thinking, he stopped by his own room to collect his chocolate brown pillow from his bed. He ran back down the hallway, past the living room, the TV room, the patio door, the stairs, and back to the hallway that Meiko's room was in.

"You," Kiyoteru stated to himself, "can do this." He involuntarily pushed his glasses up, then proceeding to open the door the dragon's layer.

No offense to Meiko in any way, considering the man sort-of-kind-of-maybe had a crush on the lady, but she was terrifying in the morning. You weren't there when she had to get up at six in the morning to get on a plane to America. Nor did anybody else _want_ to be there; most stayed a good ten, maybe twenty feet away. Now imagine those poor people at the airport...

Kiyoteru shuddered at the thought, silently praying that her door was locked.

Of course it wasn't.

And there the dragon lay, her short brown hair fanned out on the pillow. She actually looked small and innocent under the large blankets, her face soft and unmoving.

"Keep yourself together, Kiyoteru, you can do it." the man whispered under his breath. Slowly pushing the door open a bit farther, he looked around the inside of Meiko's room a bit. No, not snooping. When else would he get this opportunity? Anybody would take advantage, right? On a rough white carpet sat a red rug, the same red as Meiko's comforter, which was pulled up to the sleeping woman's chin. As Kiyoteru suspected, the fan was on, resulting in the room being fairly cold.

Kiyoteru remembered when Yuki told him about her time in Big Meiko's room a few days ago when she got scared, and she also mentioned how cold it was. To the left, he saw the red beanbag Yuki had slept on. He wanted to turn on a light, but that would be a rather unjust way of waking up a lady, wouldn't it?

Tip-toeing over to the bed, Kiyoteru held up his fluffy pillow in preparation for what may come flying at him. To him, it seemed like every step was louder when he tried to be quiet. This was probably the first time Kiyoteru ever had to be quiet so "late" in the day!

Cautiously, Kiyoteru poked the side of the dragon.

"M-Meiko...you have to wake up, Meiko, it's a bit of an emergency..." Kiyoteru poked the woman again, but this time, she stirred. The man almost jumped like a child in a haunted house, seeing that she may unleash her wrath at any given time-if she was awake enough to do so.

This is taking too long, Kiyoteru thought. This time, he gently rocked her covered shoulder with one hand, pillow-shield in the other.

He rocked just a tad harder, and suddenly, Kiyoteru's hand was in a death-grip, manicured nails digging into his flesh. "Kyaah!" Kiyoteru screeched, as he was starting to lose feeling in his hand. Meiko had woken up and was obviously not happy about it. With reflexes like a cat and the temper of an angry bear, the man's hand would probably be out-of-use for a few days, maybe weeks _if she didn't let go_.

A moment later, Kiyoteru was harshly thrown to the ground and had the wind knocked out of him when Meiko planted her bare foot on his chest. Her "sweet" complexion had completely disappeared, replaced by a furious glare. If looks could kill, Kiyoteru would be in hell ten times over.

"Why the _fuck_ were you _in_ my _room_?" Meiko put more pressure on the foot on Kiyoteru's chest when she emphasized, making it difficult for the young schoolteacher to breath.

Catching a quick breath when the pressure was slightly released, Kiyoteru managed to rasp out, "Miku...surgery...throat...dammit, Meiko!"

Meiko's faced softened and changed into a look of fear and worry. "What? Get up, man, and speak proper Japanese!" She pulled Kiyoteru up by the hand the had crushed not a minute ago, releasing a tiny squeak to the four-eyes on the floor. She had dropped him, demanding that he give a good reason to be in her room, by her bed, and then to explain what happened to Miku.

"My hand? It's fine, thanks for asking..." Kiyoteru cradled his hand before reaching for the pillow he had dropped. "I was in your room to tell you what the nurse told me, I was by your bed trying to wake you up, and the nurse said that some water Miku drank acted as some sort of acid or something. It burned her throat, and she can't speak. She's going into surgery so the doctors can see what's wrong," Meiko listened intently, staring down at Kiyoteru, who was resting his injured hand on the pillow.

"Hmm. Okay. Is Miku okay right now?"

"Yeah," he replied, "she should be." Kiyoteru used his other hand as support to lift himself off the floor and speak at Meiko's level.

"I'll go get Kaito and everyone else up. As for you – thanks. But get out of my room. Now. I have to change," Meiko crossed her arms, waiting for the man to leave. She was wearing a white nightgown with red polka dots and thin straps that fell quite a bit above her knees, and the V-neck cut a bit low on her chest. Her brown hair looked unbrushed, a few stubborn bangs appeared to defy gravity until brought down by a hairbrush.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I'll just, umm, go now, I guess," Kiyoteru fixed his slightly lopsided glasses on the bridge of his nose with his good hand and began his leave. "Should I go with you and wait out here?"

"Do what you like." Meiko told him simply. She adjusted the left strap that was falling a bit off her shoulder and started to usher Kiyoteru out the door.

Kiyoteru still felt a need to clarify. "So I can go with you?" he asked, voice full of hope.

"As I said..."

"Got it. Okay, I'll wait by your door."

Kiyoteru walked out of Meiko's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He heard a small _click_, indicating that Meiko had locked it.

The man waited patiently, leaning on the wall beside the door. He wore a small smile, I'm going to walk with Meiko. Then, Kiyoteru had to remind himself that this was a bit of an emergency, shaking himself from his thoughts. That was easily done when he heard light footsteps coming from around the corner

"Mr. Kiyoteru?" Yuki made the turn, adjusting her lopsided pigtails. "What happened to Miku?"

Kiyoteru shifted a bit. I could tell her this, right? "Miku's fine, why do you ask?"

"You looked upset on the phone, and I heard the nurse mention Miku's name. I'm not stupid! What happened?" Yuki began to look angry and worried, her brown eyes starting to sparkle with tears.

Just then, Meiko pulled open the door, fully clothed and in her favorite red skirt and half-top. Her hair was brushed, and she didn't look angry anymore.

She took one look at Yuki before muttering, "Kiyoteru, what did you do?"

Kiyoteru stood there, then whispered back, "Yuki asked about Miku, I don't know what to tell her,"

Meiko got on a knee, placing a hand on one of Yuki's shoulders. The schoolteacher watched, stunned by both Meiko's gentleness and his own inability to deal with one of his own students.

"Yuki, Miku had a rough night last night. As a result, she has to go on vocal rest for a few days-"

"I heard something about surgery!"

"Well...the reason Miku is on vocal rest is because she is going into a minor surgery so she can recover faster!"

Yuki smiled, happy with the answer she received. "So Miku's A-OK?"

"Yep! Now, go on back to whatever you were doing, while Kiyoteru and I have a little adult talk." Meiko glanced at Kiyoteru during the last part of her sentence, and the man didn't know of he should be afraid or not.

Yuki had already ran down the hallway. "Okay, thank you, Big Meiko!"

Kiyoteru shuffled nervously on his feet, unsure of what to do next. Protect himself? Run? "So, are we going to Kaito's room?"

"I can't believe you couldn't handle your own student! I doubt you can comfort anyone if you actually tried! Do you _know_ how upset Yuki would be if you just told her the truth? She's too young! She'd get frightened and probably wouldn't come out of her room for a whole damn week! Soon enough, Tsukiyomis, Ryuto, all the little ones will want to know! You were lucky that nobody came with little Yuki! Do you understand?" Meiko screeched, locating and crushing Kiyoteru's good hand.

"Y-Yes! Damn, I need my hands!" Meiko released, Kiyoteru nearly cried, and still, nobody was awake. Someone could be heard shifting in his or her bed, but nope. Somehow, nobody woke up. "Heavy sleepers, huh?" he stated more than asked, adjusting his glasses once again.

Meiko grunted in response, then walked out of her hallway. Kiyoteru followed her, always one step behind. The pair walked in the direction of Miku's room, stopping a few doors away. Sure enough, it was Kaito's, obviously. The door was blue with a couple ice cream stickers, a few peeling off.

Meiko ruthlessly swung open the door. "KAITO!"

The said man sat up, shrieking and clutching his blue sheets. His blue hair was disheveled, and why was he wearing his signature blue scarf over his pajamas?

"Eek! Meiko, don't hurt me, please! I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry!" he squealed.

Meiko stormed over to his bedside and shook him awake by the shoulders. " Miku's having surgery! Something happened when she drank water, now she can't speak!"

That woke him up.

Kaito's eyes fully snapped open in shock, and he released the sheets that he had almost pulled over his head.

"What? We need to tell everyone else!" _And risk our lives?_ Kaito must have forgotten that the Kagamines have a road roller just out back...Gakupo has a sword...just about everyone in the mansion could kill anyone else, especially if woken in the slightly earlier hours. Even though it _was_ about 11:00AM.

"Yeah, Kaito, you're coming. We're getting Luka, Gumi, and Miki next, along with anybody else we can, then Gakupo and Yuma. I should warn you that those two men have swords, and they probably aren't afraid to use them." Meiko spoke in a much calmer manner, seeing that Kaito had stopped squealing in fear.

"S-Swords?"

"Remember? Gakupo believes he's a samurai, and Yuma has his wakizashi with him."

"...Oh, yeah."

"Not to mention that Luka has a whip, and Gumi and Miki aren't weak, you know. They could kill a man like you with their bare hands."

"I don't wanna go anymore!" Kaito shrieked, scrambling back under the blue sheets.

Meiko growled, "You don't have a choice here. Get up and be a man!" Meiko forced the sheets off Kaito, then pulled him out of his bed. Kaito was on the verge of screaming and violently waking up the whole mansion. If that happened, just about every Vocaloid member would be trying to put Kaito's head on a silver platter until they calmed down.

Kiyoteru ran his less-injured hand through his hair. "Kaito, just give up now. It's for the best in regards of your health," he stated. "I've got nail marks and crushed fingers." He held up the frightening hand for Kaito to get a good look at it.

Kaito gasped and got out of bed himself, getting tangled in the sheets and falling on the floor. He peeled himself up, saluting to Meiko when he regained full balance. Kiyoteru just watched, mutely laughing a bit at the blue-haired man's idiocy.

Of course, Kiyoteru knew that he hadn't done so well, either.

Meiko took over their little "mission" of waking everyone (Yes, _everyone_. Do you know how many people are in that mansion?) and getting out with no casualties (An even more difficult task).

"Okay. For best results, I'll go alone, as I am probably stronger than both of you combined. Your combined strength may keep you alive against Gakupo or Yuma." The men gulped and looked at each other. Kiyoteru was a bit upset that he didn't get to go with Meiko, as he had looked forward to it.

Kaito spoke up first. "So we have to get the most dangerous people in the building by ourselves?"

"Yes. Hell, I'm getting Luka. This may not end well for any of us,"

Oh, dear.

Without warning, Meiko spun on her heel to the hallway that Luka and a few others resided in, her footsteps echoing down the halls. Kaito and Kiyoteru knew where to go, but they weren't exactly in a rush, so they took their time walking.

"So," Kaito started, "Gakupo's on the other side of the house, right?"

"Right."

"...Let's take our time. I don't feel like getting cut up like sushi, especially this early,"

"It's almost noon!"

Kaito shrugged. "Morning to me and just about everyone else, dude."

Kiyoteru began absentmindedly-humming Jewelfish until Kaito looked over and gave him a weird look.

"What?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "You were humming."

"No."

"Umm, yes, you were."

"I would know if I was humming."

"Apparently not."

Sighing, Kiyoteru returned to his thoughts, choosing to ignore the majority of his surroundings, or Kaito.

_I wonder if Meiko would date me if I asked her out...well, because of that STUPID song I was forced to sing with Yuki, my OWN damn STUDENT, she must think I'm some sort of pedophile. Damn producers, damn contracts! Maybe, just maybe, if I presented that song I wrote about her..._

"Kiyoteru, what's that song?"

_Shit, was I humming it?_

"Hmm? N-Nothing!" the schoolteacher stammered. If Kaito of all people found out anything...the only thing worse would be if Gumi found out...

"You are an awful liar, you know." Kaito smirked when he saw Kiyoteru begin to freak out. "It's a love song, isn't it? Come on, who's the lucky lady?" Kaito made stupid kissy-faces, circling Kiyoteru.

"I just made up a tune, got it?" But it was too late. He was already turning scarlet right before Kaito's eyes.

"...You aren't...?"

"NO!"

"Good..." Honestly, for Kaito to assume that he swung _that_ way was utterly ridiculous, in Kiyoteru's opinion.

Kaito reformed the smirk, knowing that in fact, he _had_ won. Kiyoteru obviously had a crush on someone in the mansion, and Kaito knew who to get for help: Gumi Megpoid.

Kiyoteru, on the other hand, wasn't feeling quite so great. When had he started humming his secret love song? Dammit! But, again, could've been Gumi. Flustered, Kiyoteru shoved his hands in his coat pocket, careful not to hurt them any more than Meiko had. BaKaito was still in his blue pajamas. And even the scarf...very blue, indeed. Kaito was constantly pulling the long sleeves up, as they kept covering his hands. His pants were too long as well, covering his bare feet. Damn, he looked like an idiot.

They walked in silence after that, listening to the echoing sounds of thumps and pounds from the other direction.

Simultaneously, both men muttered under their breath, "Scary..."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**Poor Kiyoteru! But it makes for a good story. Of course Gumi found out. It's Kiyoteru's luck, anyway. Okay, here is my excuse: I write most of the chapters on my iPod Touch in the Notes section, and then I transfer it to my computer through e-mail. So, I had this chapter mostly completed (you know, minus minor corrections), but I was visiting my cousins out-of-state. Without my computer. No computer, no update. Second, I am utterly clueless in medical practice, so I decided to have Miku pass out before anything got too complicated (it could have been MUCH worse, trust me). So, what do you think will happen to Miku? And what about Luka, the girl that had no reality? And the Vocaloids at home when they hear about Miku's issue? What caused this, anyway? It WAS just water (no trick, it seriously was just water =_=)...what do you think? Review, please! It encourages me to keep going!**


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Harry Potter, Vocaloid, or anything mentioned. Well, the plot is mine. But that's it.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Luka had spent the entire night reading her precious Harry Potter, lost in both her own stupid past and daydreams until she passed out.

The woman woke up for a few minutes in the extremely early morning-sometime around 3:30. She felt the weight of the fifth Harry Potter novel on her chest. She could continue to read it, or, like a normal person, go back to sleep.

But for Luka, she found it difficult to go to sleep, no matter how tired.

"Two hours of sleep," Luka grumbled, "and I can't just rest?"

Emerging from under her chocolate covers, Luka scanned her bedroom for something to keep her occupied. Her eyes fell on her iPod and headphones, which were both lying on the floor next to her bed.

"Huh..." Luka thought about what could even put her to sleep. A majority of the songs her band produces are fast-paced. If they aren't they're either too sad or too creepy.

Luka picked up the iPod Touch from the floor and pressed the home button. She smiled at the picture that flashed. A picture of herself with the Kasanes.

Fighting back tears of both happiness and regret, she swiped the screen to unlock it. Luka pressed the Music app and up came her main playlist. The first song there brought back memories-Stardust Utopia. The song she wrote, but with no music to follow. The song she refused to release for years to come. Attempting to ignore the nostalgia, Luka scrolled down to the bottom of the playlist and came across a Story Of Evil music box. She smiled at the thought of the slow song, hoping to get some sleep. She reached down, stretching her hands to reach her favorite headphones. Holding them in her right hand, she plugged them into her iPod. Luka slipped the headphones over her head, lay back on her pillow, and pressed play. A music box with a distinguishable lead and a mix of instruments that were made of small chimes in the background soothed the girl. She mentally followed the lyrics as the music box ringed. A silent pause for Rin's "Saa, hizama-zuki nasai!" ended, and the music box began again. The transitions were smooth to Servant Of Evil to Regret Message to Re_Birthday, so Luka was almost lulled into a peaceful sleep.

Almost.

Luka had forgotten to put the song on loop, so immediately after, Witch Hunt shook the girl from her relaxed state. The loud, fast-paced song scared Luka for a second, resulting in her quickly sitting back up in slight shock.

She fumbled with her iPod for a moment before going back to the music box, but this time, making sure to put it on loop. Luka locked her iPod again, layer back, and relaxed the rest of the night.

Luka woke up a from her sleep to the sound of her door being slammed open, the sound breaking through her headphones that she forgot to take out last night. The music box was still playing on loop.

Luka's eyes snapped open. She quickly looked over toward her door, where Meiko stood, already dressed and everything. Luka knew that this was extremely abnormal for someone like Meiko. Looking past the woman in red, Luka saw a pair of sleepy, grumpy Kagamines. Len's hair was down and Rin didn't have her bow or clips, so they looked almost exactly alike. Even behind the twins stood a furious Aoki Lapis, her gentle and sweet features replaced with her inner morning-demon. Her usual headband with the diamond was missing, and her nightgown was printed with the same diamond pattern.

Meiko noticed that Luka was still only half-asleep, so she stomped over and pulled the headphones off Luka's head. Luka shot a glare at her, reaching for the whip on her bedside table. She firmly grasped the handle, making a _crack_ with the whip as a warning. Meiko backed up a bit, not exactly planning to be left with bloody scars for a good cause.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" Luka growled. "And give me my headphones. Now."

Meiko tossed the headphones and the iPod to Luka, who placed them on the bed with care.

"Luka! Something happened to Miku, something weird!" Meiko stood over Luka, who was now awake and trying to slide her feet into light pink slippers, whip still in her hand. At Meiko's news, Luka calmed down a bit, but was still a bit angry for being woken up. So uncalled for! She pulled her brown nightgown down a bit farther and stood up by her bed.

"What? What exactly happened?" Luka passed the whip between her hands, demanding an explanation.

Meiko rolled her eyes. "I'll explain later when everyone's awake; I'm not going to explain it to every individual person."

Luka nodded, slightly narrowing her eyes and straightening out her slightly frizzed hair with one hand. "That makes sense," she replied, "I guess I'll go help wake everyone else up?"

"Yeah!"

Luka sighed, "You owe me, Meiko, you know." Luka grabbed her headband before gliding out the door. She fastened the headband into her hair, holding the handle of the whip in her mouth. Meiko swiftly followed.

Meiko walked in front of her tired crew. "Okay. I say we go get Mizki first, as she doesn't own anything sharp."

Aoki's head snapped up. "Umm," she groggily started, "I think those hair pins she uses have a bit of a point."

"She'll stab me with a hair pin?"

Aoki simply shrugged. "She's unpredictable."

Both Calamines had an eye twitch, slumping their shoulders. Aoki stood off to the side in a tired daze, Luka awkwardly tried to assess the situation, and Meiko was still trying to decide between SeeU, with cat claws, a fiery temper, and more often than not, spoke only Korean when tired or angry; Mizki, the unpredictable girl with sharp items littering her room; Gumi, a girl with some serious physical strength; or Miki, a redhead with a temper to match and a will like no other. No option seemed what normal people deemed "safe", but hey, sometimes, you have no choice.

"Mizki it is!" Meiko triumphantly declared. Aoki facepalmed, the Kagamines stared at the ceiling, and Luka rubbed her temples.

Luka decided to ask the question everyone was thinking, "Why, Meiko, why?"

Meiko grinned. "Why not."

Luka blankly stared at the brunette in front of her.

"Meiko, I need a vacation in England with some England's after this."

Len, also hoping to escape, tried to intervene. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind talkin' to Oliver again..." he mumbled.

Rin nodded her head in agreement.

Meiko glanced at Aoki. The small girl was drawing something in the air with her finger.

Meiko felt a need to ask, "Aoki, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

Aoki's finger stopped moving and hung in the air. She thought for a second before responding, "Huh...about seven..."

"You should be more than fi-"

"In the morning..."

"...Oh...may I ask why?"

Aoki twirled the longer strands of her hair. "Because...I'm a fairy, haha!"

Which was true. Aoki Lapis was a strange one. In reality, she was 15 centimeters tall. When the Vocaloids found her, she was a regular human, about 5'2. Then, she just went POOF. Right in front of Len. The poor kid was terrified and thought he had killed her at first!

Therefore and in conclusion, fairies DO exist.

Aoki prefers her 5'2 size, of course, but is the best at hide-and-seek, due to a size of 15 centimeters at will.

See? Just about every member of Vocaloid is screwed up in one way or another! Just some more than others.

Meiko audibly sighed. "Yes, I know. You _poofed_ in front of us many times, scaring the living shit outta Kaito and Len, even after they found out. Now, please, keep your human disguise on while in and preferably out of the house _please_!" It was Meiko's turn to rub her temples.

Luka remembered the day they found out that the girl they picked up singing at a bar was a fairy. A damn fairy. Of course it was _them_ of all people. But the fact that she could become the size of a still-fairly-short human was the reason they kept her.

Meiko then thought of another question. "What does being a fairy have to do with anything?"

"Haha...haha...everything!" Aoki laughed. "I had a few sodas and stuff!"

Cue facepalm.

Fairy on caffeine? What, you _want _to stop her? Okay, I would recommend preparing a will first, but go for it.

"Aoki, we banned you from late-night sodas after the last incident."

Which, in this case, was when Aoki was found passed out in the living room. When Kaito walked in with his morning/afternoon coffee, he screamed and nearly poured it on the fairy-girl, who was muttering inaudible words in her sleep. Kaito says it didn't sound Japanese or English, so since then, people have wondered about what goes through Aoki's mind. When Kaito carried her back to her room as a kind gesture, he found the purple carpet littered with soda cans of every flavor. Meiko got word, so she immediately banned Aoki from soda past 9:00PM.

But in this case, it seems Aoki got her hands on more.

The fairy playfully sighed, "Here, I stole some from the fridge! It tasted _so_ good! Did ya know that soda tastes better at night?" She laughed some more, then appeared to lose all her energy at once. Aoki slumped her shoulders, leaned back against the wall, and she was out like a light.

The twins looked down a moment later as a late reaction, Luka thought about how heavy Aoki might be if they have to carry her, and Meiko facepalmed for the second time that morning.

Aoki started mumbling again. Luka confirmed in her own mind that it wasn't English or Japanese. At the realization, Luka blinked, shook her head, and bend down on one knee to see if Aoki was asleep.

Suddenly, Aoki's eyes shot open with a frantic look. Tears welled up in her aqua orbs, and her skin paled to a deathly white.

The Kagamines woke up from their daze, both pairs of blue eyes snapping down to the girl on the floor. Luka placed her firm hands on Aoki's shoulders, who tried to shrink away from the people around her.

Meiko took a quick breath and shoved Luka aside. Luka glared for a moment before watching what Meiko would do.

Meiko shook Aoki's shoulders a bit violently, shouting things like, "Hey, snap out of it!", "What's wrong?", and "Wake up!", even though Aoki's eyes were wide open.

Aoki began to cry and gripped the longer locks of hair that fell behind her back, pulling then forward and onto her shoulders. She started running her small fingers through the violet-blue strands in fright. Aoki refused to speak, no matter how Meiko demanded, the Kagamines pleaded, or Luka softly asked.

"Please, Aoki, you're scaring me and Rin!"

"Hey! Aoki Lapis, wake up from whatever trance you're in! Stop scaring us!"

"Aoki, it's okay, just say something,"

Still, Aoki said nothing. She would whimper every now and then, nervously twirl her hair, or begin to violently tremble, but it would stop after a few moments. Then, Aoki would try to back up farther into the wall like she could sink into it and disappear if she tried.

Luka grabbed Rin and Len's hands and pulled them back a bit. "Hey, Rin, Len, let's give Aoki some space, okay?"

Rin looked up with a pleading look in her sky-blue eyes. "O-Okay..."

Len glanced at Luka wordlessly, but small tears forming in his eyes tore down his tough expression.

_He really looks like Rin…he needs a ponytail._

Luka looked at Meiko, who was also beginning to get a bit frantic. Aoki looked unfocused, and her skin was paper-white. Meiko, on the other hand, looked like she was at the point of slapping the girl into oblivion if she didn't speak.

Luka straightened out her nightgown and walked over to Meiko. She put a comforting hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"What, Luka? Can't you see I'm busy?"

Luka slightly recoiled at the harsh words, soundlessly taking them to heart. It somewhat reminded her of a certain memory, a memory worth forgetting...but that was not the time.

"Meiko...you have to give Aoki some space, you know she has a memory problem. Maybe she forgot where she is for a second. She might just be confu-"

"Then _why_ is she so damn scared? Aoki has _never_ been like this! Luka, this is bad!" Meiko snapped back. It was true, Aoki did suffer from short-term memory loss at times, but it never got to a point of being frightened at the touch of another person.

Luka contained the anger welled up inside. "Meiko, please, just give Aoki a moment; she looks stressed. It's probably best not to disturb her."

The Kagamines whispered amongst themselves. Luka caught a few words. Rin was wondering how this happened to Aoki so quickly and unexpectedly, Len didn't know how to reply. Rin got angry, Len defended himself. Not too surprising.

Meiko looked down for a moment, a shadow hiding her eyes. Then, she pulled up her head. "This is my fault," Meiko stood up. "all my fault..." The brunette swung her fist at an godly speed at the wall behind her. The wall cracked in the general area of the punch. It probably echoed around the mansion. Hopefully not loud enough to wake _everyone_ up at once. A scream from the person in the room right next to the abused wall screamed. A few seconds later, a certain Mew challenged Meiko's speed in opening the door to her room. Her long black hair was a tangled mess, her a strap to her black top falling off her shoulder a bit. In one hand was the door handle, the other held a large cat plushy that looked like a cartoon version of her actual pet cat, which stepped out from behind Mew's legs.

See, Mew had a personality similar to Luka's, but there was a big difference: temper and slight anger management. Luka could contain her anger when she needed to and could usually keep it under control. Mew could do the same, but had a lot less tolerance of idiots and disturbances. Getting her to calm down was often a different story.

Mew glared at Meiko, fire lighting her eyes. "Tell me, Meiko-why the _hell _would you _punch_ the _damn wall_?" Mew huffed and walked out of her room to examine the damage.

Luka knew she needed to explain before things got out of hand. "Aoki Lapis passed out from too much sugar and close to no sleep. She collapsed and woke up like she was afraid of her surroundings. She won't speak." Luka stated calmly, hoping Mew would understand.

"So Meiko punched the wall why...?"

"Fit of anger."

"She better apologize later."

Meiko looked like she was about to tell Mew off, but stopped herself when Aoki groaned. Turning around, Aoki had her hands covering her ears, eyes shut tight. A few tears leaked down her face.

The group collectively gasped. Everyone ran over to Aoki, who refused to respond to any of her surroundings. Thankfully, she hadn't returned to her 15-centimeter size.

Mew, already frantic and upset, began pacing across the hall. She clutched her kitty plushy close to her chest, white sweat pants dragging across the floor. Rin started biting her fingernails. Silence hung over the small group. They all gradually moved closer to Aoki. Soon enough, they all ended up surrounding her.

To everyone's surprise, Aoki looked up and removed her hands from her ears. Her eyes held a slightly disturbing child-like innocence.

Three simple words shocked the surrounding group with despair and fear they haven't felt for a good while now. Silence hung over them all. Not even Luka herself knew what to say. Three words.

"Who are you?"

Kaito was in no mood whatsoever to approach anyone in the morning. It wasn't something against his residents and friends, but Kaito knew he was just lazy sometimes. And when swords are involved, nothing good can come from it. _Maybe I can use Kiyoteru as a human shield!_

Gakupo Kamui was a nice guy. He was also one of Kaito's friends. But everyone in the Vocaloid household has some type of screw loose. Gakupo believed that he, in the past life, was a famous samurai. Even worse, he felt a need to live out who he used to be. Now, Gakupo carries a katana just about everywhere he goes. Not just that. Gakupo has a large one hanging above his bed, an emergency katana in the closet and under the bed, and then the sheathed katana that he places next to him when he sleeps.

This frightened Kaito greatly, of course. Kiyoteru was probably a bit shaky, too, as the teacher had also seen Gakupo's lovely collection.

Kaito frowned. Something felt...off since around the time of the loud _thump_. He shook it off as fear, which didn't help his case, but it made him feel...almost no different. Changing the fear didn't help, so Kaito decided to focus on other things, like the sound of his bare feet hitting the tile.

Turning into Gakupo's hallway, Kaito looked down the number of doors they would have to open. Gakupo, Yuma, Piko, and Lui. Hibiki Lui was a shy little twelve year-old shota that didn't speak much, much less sing. He has a great voice, but right now, he is going through a confidence-course-thing with Meiko. Meiko was determined to get that boy on stage. Lui was very unlike his cousin, Suzune Ring. Ring, a seventeen year-old girl, had a Miku-like personality, and she and Miku got along fairly well. Ring was always ready to perform. She used to be mistaken as an attention whore in grade school, where she always entered the talent show, won first place, and always tried out for leads in chorus. In reality, she just loved to sing. She joined the Vocaloids with Lui when they were found singing a duet at a charity in Tokyo. They were welcomed with a huge party, which Kaito always liked to reflect on. Sake for the adults, soda for anyone underage, nachos, pizza, ice cream, and life was good.

Then, Kaito involuntarily snapped back into reality, where he would first be facing swords, then more swords, and later, a potentially dangerous USB cord. Thankfully, Lui wouldn't be a problem. Kaito found it funny how Lui was always mistaken for a girl because of his manners and lovely personality, none of which most of the male Vocaloids had. Which meant that he would be nice to wake up – no threats.

Suddenly, the sound of heels _clack_ing on the tile broke the silence. Kiyoteru turned first.

"Tone Rion?"

Kaito turned to see. It was, in fact, Tone Rion, purple pigtails and all. She wore a cheery smile, and it seemed that she woke up on her own, untainted by Meiko's drastic measures. She had put a bandage on her left knee over her tights.

Kaito smiled. "Hey, Rion! I'm surprised you're up!"

Rion's smile grew bigger as she slowed to a stop. Kiyoteru pushed his glasses up.

"What are you doing here?" Kiyoteru asked, "Did Meiko tell you to come?"

"Nope! I thought I heard you earlier, so I decided to catch up with you!" Rion replied, rocking on her heels. "So, where ya going?"

Kaito sighed, "We have to wake up a bunch of the guys over there," he pointed up ahead. "without getting killed." Kaito wanted to shudder at the thought of a sword impaling him through the chest, whether it be Gakupo or Yuma's deadly blade.

"I'll help! It doesn't sound too bad," Rion stated, walking up to Kaito's left. She started walking with the pair, a little hop in her step. Kaito grinned, watching the girl smile and willingly risk her life-practically or literally, take that statement however you like.

Although, a few minutes of happy walking later, Rion had tears streaming down her face. Kaito looked down to get a better look-she was definitely crying.

"Rion? Are you okay? Ah, you're crying, what's wrong?" At his words, Rion looked up. Purple met blue as small tears glistened in her eyes. Obviously, she was upset, and Kaito loved making people smile. A goal was already set in his mind.

Rion was blushing, and in an attempt to defend herself, she shakily said, "W-What? I wasn't crying, don't w-worry!"

To Kaito, it didn't sound very convincing. So, being himself, he pressed further. "Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!" Rion pouted. "I would know!"

_She's acting so tsundere, it's funny! Reminds me of Miki, almost._

"Yeah, you were, Rion! Come on, tell me!" A slightly frustrated Kiyoteru to his right interrupted Kaito with a frightening tone that had an aura of _don't you dare start this again, you damn idiot._

"Oh, no. Kaito, do you not get a sense of dèjá vu?" Kiyoteru was looking up, slightly intimidating Kaito. But Kaito would not show weakness. So, he laughed when he remembered Kiyoteru's defeat in their little argument as a distraction.

"For one thing, I know you were humming, and you do, too. Second, Rion was obviously upset about something." Hoping to bother the home-schooling teacher even more, Kaito held up his index finger like Kiyoteru did whenever he made a point. At the same time, he placed a comforting hand on Rion's shoulder. She looked a bit humored at Kiyoteru's reactions to Kaito's antics. Kaito smiled when he thought he made someone feel better, even if he didn't know what was wrong.

To his surprise, Rion dashed out from under Kaito's hand, running ahead of Kiyoteru and himself. Her voice echoed back to them from across the hall, "Hey, careful, or I'll get to Gakupo's first~!"

Both men looked at the other square in the eye. Kaito knew it was a diversion, but he decided to play along, just so Rion wouldn't get upset again. They looked ahead at Rion, who was making silly faces back at them. The tears seemed to be gone, as if they never existed. The unhappy face was replaced with a quirky, happy, excited face that was dying for a competition. Kiyoteru adjusted his glasses and Kaito rolled his sleeves up his muscular arms.

Kaito spoke a mere two words and a race was on.

"Challenge accepted."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**Ah, it's a bit shorter this time. But I like it. The story has really started moving on it's own. Poor Aoki. I regret doing that to her, but it had to be done. You know, while all this is going on, Miku's undergoing serious surgery. And for once, I have an idea for the next chapter. I mean that I don't have the outline and stuff, usually...but I do this time! I always seem to leave it at Kaito...but not next chapter! You get to see Rion-chan's POV! By the way, reviews are helpful. So, REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey hey hey! The updates are getting a bit better on this story. THIS story. My Bleach story, on the other hand…ANYWAY! Rion's POV should shed some light on the last chapter, plus a bit more. Enjoy~!**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Rion sat up in her bed, already aware of the current situation just down the hall. Aoki Lapis had just lost her memories with little chance of recovery, but there were a few possible futures where the fairy-girl did remember everything. Rion just knew she had to be careful with what she did. One mistake could jeopardize the lives of many, many people across the globe. That's a lot of pressure on a sixteen-year old girl.

But being a time-traveler had its perks.

Coming from 100 years in the future sounded crazy. But the reason was crazier-Rion's boss had gotten word about a case gone cold, regarding a large band of singers from across the globe. It started slowly, with one of the more popular leads going to the hospital, but there was a massacre as her friends attempted to find out what happened. It didn't seem real. There was no evidence; just bloodied bodies and frightening journals. Nobody was alive to confirm what happened.

The Engloids, as they were nicknamed, were a part of the Vocaloids, but they sang in English, and their living areas were somewhere in England. Shortly after the devastating massacre of the Vocaloids, the Engloids were targeted and murdered. Soon enough, the Chinese branch was killed off until there wasn't a Vocaloid member left standing.

Tone Rion was born in the year 2095 with a gift-singing. People said she could reunite the Vocaloids that were killed with new, possible better members. But she also had another gift-with enough practice, Rion's body could handle the severe pressure of time travelling. Her boss had received word about this girl and immediately set out to recruit her. One thing led to another, and Rion was on vacation in America as part of a special English study she payed for. In reality, she was transferred to the time of the Vocaloid Massacre, where she was told of all the possible futures, steps to take, consequences of major actions, and a basis on how to stop this. Rion was set up to be found on the street, singing for money. Her backstory? Abandoned and left on the street as a child. Nobody found her, so she worked odd jobs for a living. Some living.

A Vocaloid member, more specifically, Kagamine Rin, was walking with Meiko to get some oranges. Rin noticed the girl singing and thought she was great. Questions were asked, forms were signed, and Tone Rion became the newest member of Vocaloid.

Sadly, Rion did not know exactly what the source of the disturbances was. She knew what to do, and she could call for backup, but she had to keep her cover up and her profile low. Well, as low as a famous singer could get. Low enough to not arouse suspicion.

Tying her violet hair into it's favorite pigtails, Rion slipped out of bed and strolled to her closet, humming _Thousand Regrets_ to herself. She puled out her favorite pink and white dress with the large green bow in the back, thigh-highs, boots, and gloves, she frowned. There was a scrape from falling down outside that ripped the thin fabric of her left thigh-high. The mark was still a bit red. Adjusting the decorative backs of her boots, Rion walked over to her bedside table. She pulled out the drawer. Scanning the inside, her eyes finally settled on the small box of bandages. Rion knew that she was often a bit accident-prone.

Rion also grabbed the small tube of medicine next to the box, opened it, and squeezed it on the cut. She opened the box of bandages, peeled off the paper cover, and put one on top of the medicine. Rion flexed her left knee a bit. Deciding it was good, she walked back to her closet.

"Hat...hat...oh! Here it is~!" Rion sang as she picked the pink hat up off the floor, along with her other headgear and little flower clip. She slid the clip in the left side to hold back a couple overgrown bangs, popped the hat on her head, and examined herself in the mirror to her right. The same little ahoge was sticking up, as usual. It used to bother her, but given time, she got used to it.

"Uwah! I'm tired, I wish I didn't have to keep Kaito from waking up Yuma..." Rion sighed. If Yuma woke up, everyone would be completely screwed. Sometimes, even the littlest things can affect the entire situation. "Well, they still haven't woken up Gakupo, which by this time," Rion checked the clock, "will take them another nine minutes and forty-seven seconds. Lazy!" Rion huffed.

Stealthily, Rion slipped out of her room and into the hallway. She could hear Meiko and the others freaking out over Aoki. Rion wanted so badly to tell them how to get Aoki back to normal, but it was against the rules to reveal anything. Anyway, it would still take time and precision.

"Okay, if I'm seen, Yuma will be woken up too early...carefully, carefully..." Rion whispered to herself. She tiptoed out into the main area of the building, where she would hear the occasional noise of the little ones chatting. As soon as it was clear, Rion broke out into a full-on sprint. If she helped Kaito and Kiyoteru out now, it would be possible to prevent them from getting Yuma by saying that "she'll do it herself", while they move on to Piko. Also, Gakupo was less likely to draw a blade with a girl around. The only issue was that Rion knew she had forgotten what happens when Piko wakes up.

As she rounded a corner, Rion saw the two men just ahead of her. Kiyoteru turned around at the sound on Rion's heels _clack_ing against the tile.

"Tone Rion?"

Kaito stopped when he heard Kiyoteru speak. He turned around in surprise and smiled. "Hey, Rion! I'm surprised you're up!"

Rion cheerfully smiled, giving off the fake aura of an airhead. If they saw her being serious, they would know something was wrong. Even Kaito would notice something. And he's _Kaito_.

Kiyoteru pushed his glasses up for the umpteenth time. "What are you doing here? Did Meiko tell you to come?"

"Nope! I thought I heard you earlier, so I decided to catch up with you!" For Rion, it was getting harder and harder to keep smiling when there was work to be done. "So, where ya going?" Rion rocked on her heels.

Kaito sighed, "We have to wake up a bunch of the guys over there," he pointed up ahead. "without getting killed."

_Then do what I say from now on, okay?_

"I'll help! It doesn't sound too bad," Rion took Kaito's left and started walking with a fake smile plastered on her face. When she dealt with idiots in both her time period and the Vocaloids, she had to learn. The best way she found to lie was this: believe the lie. Sure, Rion was just in a helpful mood!

Rion could feel Kaito's radiating smile. It was no wonder he caught the attention of so many girls. It would be a shame if a man like him got killed again. After all, Rion only has one shot at fixing this. After one try, the time period closes up. No going back to try again. Which is too bad in the failed missions. During World War II, someone from Rion's time had attempted to evacuate people in Hiroshima, and, if successful, Nagasaki. He had one try. Of course, nobody listened to the poor, homeless kid on the street. Even worse, he was caught in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped and was killed instantly. That's the mission that haunted other time-travellers for years.

Going forward in time was a different story-it wasn't exactly possible yet. Sure, it was possible to send a small object, like a pebble, a few years ahead. But it was impossible so far to send the pebble somewhere else across the globe. It was also impossible to send even slightly larger objects. It was a mystery how going forward in time worked. Some believed it created an exact copy of this universe and it created another with the future of that rock being there. Most just accepted and moved on, as a pebble that was stuck in a lab wouldn't change anything, anyway. There was a whole study conducted for the mystery.

Rion hated it when people confused "reversing time", which was illegal, and "going back in time". See, reversing time is basically completely screwing with nature, erasing what happened once completely. One would also age back the number of years they reversed. Reversing time was made illegal when people realized what could happen. Of course, nobody attempted it. Ever. Reversing time was too dangerous in itself, as it was widely believed that when one aged back, they loose their memories of anything before then, too.

Going back in time was much simpler, believe it or not. One simply, well, leaves his or her time period. The person was born in that time and people still knew whom he or she was. It was not like reversing time, which worked like a complete eraser. The only huge difference is that time is temporarily frozen as soon as the time traveller leaves. When he or she comes back, history is changed (if successful), and in a split second, memories of normal people are rewritten, and everything is at peace. The only real issue would be if you went back and risked meeting yourself, your parents, or your friends. It could jeopardize your entire existence. But 100 years back? No problem. Sure, Rion could explain this with ease, but people got lost too easily. It was hard not to correct people when they misused a term.

She wondered, what would happen when this was resolved? She wouldn't be able to just leave. Rion knew that she had made friends. Not just that, but fame. People would notice if she suddenly disappeared. She didn't think it was possible to stay. The problem was that Rion had friends in this time period's future. She had another life. It would be impossible to leave one behind at this point.

It would be too painful to let go of a whole life, a whole existence.

Rion realized that she was thinking too hard about this when she felt hot tears roll down her cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaito look down at her.

"Rion? Are you okay? Ah, you're crying, what's wrong?" Rion looked up to sympathetic blue eyes. Kaito had a small frown.

Rion blushed and rubbed her eyes. In a panicky voice, she said, "W-What? I wasn't crying, don't w-worry!" Rion found it even harder to fake a smile. For all she knew, these people that cared about her...she would have to leave behind. Rion didn't want to do that!

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't! I would know!" Rion cutely pouted, hoping to distract Kaito from his accusation.

"Yeah, you were, Rion! Come on, tell me!"

Kiyoteru looked up. "Oh, no. Kaito, do you not get a sense of dèjá vu?" He glared at Kaito, who started laughing.

"For one thing," Kaito started, "I know you were humming, and you do, too. Second, Rion was obviously upset about something." He smartly held up his index finger in mockery of the teacher. Kaito placed his left hand on Rion's shoulder.

A great idea popped into her head.

"Hey, careful, or I'll get to Gakupo's first~!" Rion ran ahead of the boys, who were exchanging looks.

"Challenge accepted."

Rion smiled for real at the sound of a bit of fun. Sticking her tongue out, Rion began playfully running backward, laughing along with Kaito, who was running in front of Kiyoteru to slow him down. Kaito lightly yanked on the four-eyes' tie, laughed hysterically, and ran ahead to catch up with Rion. The purple-haired girl ran around, killing a bit of time. _Dammit, I probably look like a bipolar freak!_

_Okay, two minutes and fifteen seconds or more until we can safely wake up Gakupo…but something doesn't feel quite right…_

"Kiyoteru! Hurry up~!" Rion called out.

Kiyoteru rolled his eyes, frowned, and jogged to catch up with the immature singers.

_About one minute!_

Rion decided to lure the men closer to Gakupo's room, slightly toning down her volume as the doors came into her line of sight. Kaito didn't seem to notice as he laughed with Rion. They spun around, badly dancing for laughs.

"Hey, Rion," Kaito asked between chuckles. "I still remember when you seemed upset. What was wrong?"

Rion stopped, her face completely emotionless.

_Think, Rion, think!_

"Oh, that. I was, umm, thinking?"

Kaito tilted his head. "About...?"

Rion thought for a moment. Putting on her best pity face, she tried to sound convincing. "Well...I was worried about Miku and the others!" Rion wanted to mention Aoki, but that would have led to questions and interferences. Kaito and Kiyoteru weren't supposed to know about Aoki quite yet.

Kaito walked over and gave Rion a hug from the side. Rion's felt her face heat up as she moved her small, gloved hands up to Kaito's arm.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine if you think positive! So don't worry, please?" Kaito smiled down at Rion. If only he knew that positive thinking didn't work out so well the first time. If only he knew what had to be done.

"Thanks," Rion muttered. She felt awful about lying to one of her friends like that, and then having him _pity her_! Rion felt sick, but then remembered that Gakupo had to be woken up.

"Hmm?" Kaito released Rion when she squirmed a bit in his tight grasp.

"Gakupo! He should play with us!" Rion grabbed Kaito's arm and dragged him along. She stopped, turned, and motioned for a professional-looking Kiyoteru a few steps behind her to move forward. He had wanted to join the excitement, but his common sense didn't let him. Instead, Kiyoteru hung back a few steps, following his friends as they ran off, hopping and spinning in circles.

Before either man could respond, Rion had them by their arms. She dragged them along, used her foot to push the door handle down, and entered the room.

To everyone's surprise, Gakupo was up, all right. In his Dancing Samurai outfit. Dancing to Dancing Samurai. With the sword in hand and everything. Eyes met, jaws dropped, and Rion fell to the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Not even Rion had seen this coming. Kaito held back a few snickers. Kiyoteru looked completely un-amused, most likely from the fact that he constantly dealt with immature children as his second job.

"W...What the...haha! What the hell, Gakupo, haha!" Rion shouted between laughs. Gakupo dove behind his very purple bed.

"Why don't you ask Pajama Boy over there?" Gakupo hissed, pointing an offending finger at Kaito, who was now having much more trouble containing his laughter. He looked up, fell to the floor, and was in Rion's state of laughter when he saw Gakupo's ridiculous shadowed and "menacing" face.

Kiyoteru stepped forward to explain. "Good, you didn't see the video. Well, you see Gakupo's outfit? Kaito was the half-naked horse."

Rion rolled onto her back, face cherry red. Her right eye slightly twitched. Gakupo peered over the bed to see her reaction. Kaito looked over and started laughing, but no noise was coming out. He sat there on the floor, face turning red as the room silenced. Rion tilted her head, Kiyoteru still looked bored, and Gakupo had disappeared behind the bed again, hopefully to put some actual pants on.

"Gakupo, are you getting dressed now?" Kiyoteru asked.

"...Yes."

"Good."

"_Praise the lord!_" Rion spread out like a starfish comfortably on the carpet. She shut her eyes and smiled in just the almost pure awesomeness of her morning. A mission turned into appearing to be on drugs! Who doesn't love that? Well, Kiyoteru, maybe.

Kaito stood up, brushed himself off, and stood in waiting for a clothed Gakupo. Some shuffling was heard, a few locks of purple hair popped out from behind the bed, but then, Gakupo appeared in a white T-shirt and a pair of old jeans.

"No samurai costume?" Kaito asked.

"It's not a costume, Kaito," Gakupo stated. "I believe it is a symbol of my past life as a powerful samurai. And I am not wearing it because I don't feel like going anywhere. Anyway, why did you gatecrash my room?"

Rion turned to Kaito, pretending to be oblivious. Gakupo sat down and put on a pair of old sneakers, waiting for a reply.

"Well," Kaito began, "Miku is currently in throat surgery. Apparently, some water irritated her throat, doctors were perplexed, and Kiyoteru, you got the news first!" Kaito turned to Kiyoteru, who has his hands in his pockets.

"True, but I was not asked to explain."

"And Kaito, why are you in your pajamas?" Gakupo asked from the floor. Rion watched all this go down from the floor, laying on her back, looking up at everyone.

Kaito shrugged. "Meiko didn't give me time to change before she pulled me out of bed."

Rion snickered, imagining this go down in the morning...well, afternoon, but that's not relevant. Being informed is different from experiencing these moments in person.

Kaito moved along with his explanation, "Miku's going into serious throat surgery for some weird reason. That's pretty much all the information the nurse gave Kiyoteru," He pushed his sleeves up once more, adjusted his scarf, and waited for a response.

Rion stood up, pretending to look more upset than she really was. If Miku got out of the hospital in the next few days, she would be fine. At least, for now. If something else screws up, then she's a dead girl. Rion chuckled to herself, _Simple as that can change someone's fate, huh?_ Anyway, she knew how to get the diva out in time, so all was well.

Gakupo frowned. His face contorted in fear and confusion as his brain processed the new information. Finally, he found the words to speak. "O-Oh, that's not good, not a-at all...we need to get everyone else!" Gakupo hopped up.

Rion quickly announced her plan. "Okay! I will get Yuma, you all work together so you don't suffocate by the will of Piko's USB cord-tail-thing! Move, move, move!" The small girl ushered the men out of the room. Kiyoteru had no objections and Gakupo was too hyped to object, but Kaito timidly raised his hand to say something.

"How do you plan to get Yuma?"

"Poke his face!"

Even Kiyoteru turned at Rion's announcement. Even so, she proudly wore her confident expression, hands on her hips. Cheekily smiling, she added, "What? I want to see you boys do better!"

"Go for it." And with that, Kaito walked toward Piko's door. Gakupo shrugged and followed. Kiyoteru wished Rion luck and caught up with his friends as they slowly entered Piko's room.

Rion sighed in relief. Boys were so simple-minded sometimes, it was just funny to watch. She walked by Yuma's room door, made a few knocks and thumps, and waited a moment. Then, she began making incomprehensible whispers. About a minute later, she opened and shut the door to create the illusion of Yuma peacefully waking up and walking out. The plan was as perfect as it could get.

Humming in victory, Rion swished her pigtails behind her as she opened the door to Utatane Piko's room. Inside was Piko, who had the USB cord wrapped dangerously around the teacher's neck, holding Kiyoteru captive. Piko was standing on his bed, Kiyoteru sitting helplessly in front of him. Kaito was on his knees, begging for forgiveness on the floor. Gakupo was attempting to be stealthy by creeping up behind the obviously half-asleep Piko. Piko's hair was an utter wreck; somehow, even his ahoge looked out of place. He was in snow-white pajamas, the buttons of his white shirt coming undone. Piko's eyes were half closed, and any speech he attempted was slurred or he forgot to finish the sentence. That freaky USB cord must had been attached to him like a tail, as he was moving it at his own will.

Kaito slowly turned his head to greet Rion, careful to not make any sudden movements. "H-Hey, Rion," he whispered, "I see you're okay...where's Yuma?"

"...Eating." Rion whispered back, glad that she came up with a liable excuse.

"Help me...I think I'm next..."

Piko snapped his head around when Gakupo made a small sound while trying to capture and restrain the little heterochromatic demon. Gakupo flinched at Piko's intense glare, the blue eye turning icy and the green one appearing to turn a shade darker.

"...'on't moooooove...!" Piko weakly snarled. As he spoke, Kiyoteru made a face. Rion suspected that Piko was tightening his USB cord-tail-thing on reflex to anger, unaware of the fact that he could kill someone. Rion then remembered-Piko did try to kill Kiyoteru! How silly of her to forget! "Kaito...'ll gut ya like a fish..."

Gakupo swallowed his samurai pride, slowly walked over next to Kaito and bowed on his knees to Piko. Kiyoteru glared at the men in front of him.

Rion walked farther into the room, slightly wary of Piko's next probable action. Her heels _clack_ed as they usually did. Straightening out her dress, Rion said, "Well, this is interesting."

The door sprung open again. Yuma stood there, his light pink hair missing it's favorite cap.

"The hell?"

Rion gasped and ran toward the man in the doorway. "I-I see you're done, hehe! I, umm, you should go now, spare yourself," Rion tried to push Yuma out the door, but she wasn't strong enough.

_No! Wait, I might be okay…_

Yuma's eyes widened at the sight of Piko. "Rion, what did I miss, exactly?" He shook his pink hair out of his eyes to get a better look. Yuma frowned. Instead of waiting for an answer, he walked out of the room. "I'm not gonna bother. Ya'll have fun with...whatever ya'll are doing. G'night." With that, Yuma shut the door behind him, leaving the group of five in shock. Rion, from almost getting everyone killed in one of the possible futures; Kaito, Gakupo, and Kiyoteru, for not getting help they needed; and Piko was just confused. For a moment, it appeared that Piko had slightly loosened the cord around Kiyoteru.

"Thanks a lot, you traitor!" Kaito shouted at the door.

"Whatever!" Yuma shouted through the wall.

Kiyoteru winced as the USB tightened a bit. "P-Piko Utatane, release me th-this instant!" He attempted to loosen the cord with his hands to no avail.

"Be quiet...erm...Kaito?" Piko growled. Obviously, he didn't even know who he had captive.

"Kiyoteru, you asshole!" Said man's glasses fell from his face in front of Kaito. "Augh! Can't see!"

Kaito snickered, "Dude, you can see."

"Not three feet in front of me!" Kiyoteru retorted.

Rion stood motionless, watching the scene play out. "Hey...I'm gonna go get a bucket of water, I'll be right back." She slowly backed out of the room. Rion silently shut the door behind her, sprinting down the hall. "Bucket, bucket..." Rion muttered to herself. Soon enough, Rion had made her way to the kitchen and was throwing open cabinets along the walls for a bucket or bowl. When she found an aluminum one in a lower cabinet, Rion rushed to the sink and turned on the tap.

"What are you doing?"

Rion looked down frantically and saw Tsukuyomi Ai looking up at her with huge purple-grey eyes staring into Rion's violet ones. The tips of Ai's brown pigtails brushed the floor.

Shōta, her older brother, protectively came up behind Ai. He tried to look "cool" by swishing his hair like Kaito while Ai nervously played with a pigtail.

"Oh, I'm getting a bowl of water." Please don't ask why, please don't ask why...

"Why?" Of course curious minds want to know. Ai played with her yellow hat, expecting a quick answer.

"Well, umm, Piko was being...Piko. So he wanted a large bowl...of water..." Rion realized how ridiculous she sounded halfway through her pathetic excuse. She mentally scolded herself to do better. Thankfully, she was dealing with a five-year old and a seven-year old. They were recently adopted from some orphanage in Osaka when Ai was singing World is Mine in front of a caretaker when she was bored. Shōta was inspired by his sister's voice, so he tried out singing Broken Rain, one of Kaito's personal favorites. Word got around quickly, but nobody wanted the two children as actual children; people wanted to make money off of the talent. The Vocaloids all knew that they could take them in as family with ease, and a deal was done the same day. The siblings were still a bit aloof around the teens and adults. But they Tsukuyomis were also naïve and trusting, if you got them to open up.

"Oh, okay." Just as quickly as she came, Ai headed off to who-knows-where, Shōta quietly following. Ai's hair swept the floor behind her. She clutched her pink bunny's arm in her left hand, one of the bunny's ears also dragging on the tile.

Rion sighed in relief. She knew that she had to stop getting caught in the moment. It never ended well, like on another mission a boy her age was sent on. He was told to kill a girl before she ended up causing two nobles to fight for her hand. Too bad that he completely lost himself in the moment and time period that he fell for her, too. The nobles killed the "peasant boy", and then, the girl killed herself out of grief. In conclusion, Rion knew never to forget her duty.

Rion snapped out of her daydreaming when water hit her hands. The bowl was overflowing. She turned off the tap, emptied a bit of water, and carefully made her way to Piko's room. "Okay, by now, Aoki should be back in her room, Mew should be with her, and the rest should be on their way to...was it Miki or Gumi? Oh, well. That doesn't effect anything this time," Rion thought out loud. Nobody was listening, anyway. All the kids were talking, playing, or glued to the TV or some video game. Rion picked up her pace a bit, extra careful not to spill a drop of water anywhere.

After a few long minutes, Rion made it back to Piko's room. She could hear muffled shouts from numerous people. Rion, being a yaoi fan herself, got some lovely thoughts in her head at the noise. Sadly, she very well knew that was not the case at hand. Using her heel to push down on the door handle, Rion opened the door. What she saw was Kiyoteru still being strangled, Gakupo laying on his back, and Kaito attempting to explain to a very angry Piko what was going on. Still, Piko's eyes were threatening to close, so even through all the screaming, he could remain out of it for some time.

"Stand back!" Rion shouted. Kaito turned and saw the bowl of water resting in her hands. He yelped and ducked for cover. Gakupo figured he was already good, Kiyoteru failed to get out of the way, and Piko was quickly drenched head to toe. His blue and green eyes fully snapped open in pure fury from hell.

"_What the fuck_." Piko's USB tail retracted from the teacher's neck. Kiyoteru's hair was a bit wet, but he was otherwise fine. He collapsed next to the other men on the floor, looking a bit purple in the face. "Why the hell am I wet? What happened? Why are these idiots in my room? Rion, why the fuck did you _throw water at me, you dumbass?_" Piko hopped off his bed and peeled his soaked top off.

Rion explained, "You almost killed Kiyoteru, had Kaito and Gakupo in their knees, and refused to listen to anyone or wake up from whatever trance you were in."

"So you threw a bucket of damn water on me."

"A bowl. And I would have woken you up somehow else if I could safely stand within five feet of you. I mean, you were strangling Kiyoteru with the USB cord, threatened to gut Kaito, and even forced Gakupo to drop the tough act!"

"Hey!" Gakupo shouted from the floor, obviously offended. Rion ignored him and waited for Piko's response.

The heterochromatic eyes widened a bit, eyebrows raised. "I did that? Cool. Then you learned why smart people don't fucking try to wake me up. This better be serious, or I swear I will murder each and every one of you."

"Well," Rion said, "Miku is going under throat surgery after her throat and vocals became irritated from drinking water. She wasn't doing well when the nurse called." Rion rocked on her heels innocently.

"Miku? Damn, I hope she's okay." Piko shuffled his feet and started wagging his USB tail, but a fiery glare remained.

"She's supposed to make a full recovery," Kiyoteru piped up, rubbing his neck a bit. Piko snorted at Kiyoteru.

"Ha, you deserved what you got, four-eyes!" Piko darkly laughed. Everyone either shuffled or stepped back.

"You," Kaito stated, pointing at Piko, "will help us wake everyone else up-"

"_Hell_, no. Do it yourselves." Piko coldly responded. He started wringing out the ends of his hair and his ahoge, which somehow, remained standing.

Rion knew what she had to do. Sure, she would regret it later, but there was no other way. She ran up to Piko and gave him a hug.

"Yes, you will." Rion was still holding the aluminum bowl, and with a strong whack, Piko was out as cold as his words. While hugging the drenched teen, she had used her secret strength to bring the bowl around just hard enough to keep Piko out of it for a while.

All the men's faces went pale. Rion sweetly smiled in their direction. Piko lay in Rion's arms. The bowl was dropped on the floor with a soft _thud_.

Rion cheerily asked, "So, who is going to carry him? Surely I cannot! Eenie, meenie, miney, moe…Gakupo!" Rion pointed in said man's direction. Kaito and Kiyoteru instantly backed away from him. "Catch!" Rion tossed Piko over to Gakupo, who nervously caught him. _Damn my yaoi-trained mind…_Rion thought. _I mean, it's such a cute position and all!_

"Do I get a say in this?" Gakupo wearily asked.

Rion slightly frowned. "Of course not. Now, let's get going!" She led the way out the door with a slight smirk. _Men…now, in three…two…one…_

An ear-splitting shriek rang out through the mansion right on cue.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

**Haha, Rion. And sleepy Piko. This chapter was fun. And Rion isn't bipolar anymore, yay! I hope this chapter explains some stuff. Anyway, my birthday was July 2nd! I wish I could have updated then, but I didn't have Internet. Or a computer. If you wouldn't mind reviewing, I would be honored to receive a comment from my beautiful readers. Thank you to everyone still reading this!**


	9. Bad news, guys

**PLEASE READ PLEASE READ PLEASE READ!**

**Okay. I had such great things written down for the next chapters! I swear! But then something went wrong with my iPod Touch, where I already informed you that I keep things I haven't yet sent to my computer. I briefly considered suicide when I found this out…**

**Well…I restored my iPod, but something went wrong during the restoration so I didn't get any of my photos back (I went from 470-something to recovering 70 on my own), all my high scores (which were VERY high and will be near impossible to re-create) were erased, none of my bookmarks that saved stories I was reading on FanFiction, or any of my precious note with all my chapter information that I would have posted soon…it's all gone…no trace of it…ALL THE WORK I PREPARED WAS TAKEN FROM ME BY AN EVIL COMPUTER, DAMMIT!**

**Please excuse this next rant. Warning: I am very angry, upset, and frustrated, so this will involve a looooooot of swearing.**

**MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A BITCH THAT WAS ALL I SPENT MY EXTRA TIME DOING AND THAT BASTARD OF A COMPUTER ROBBED ME OF IT WHY THE FUCK WOULD IT DO SUCH A FUCKING AWFUL THING DAMMIT I PROMISED CHAPTERS AND NOW I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NOTHING FOR FUCK'S SAKE. THIS BASTARDLY COMPUTER DELETED EVERYTHING ON MY IPOD THAT HELD EVEN THE FUCKING SMALLEST BIT OF SIGNIFIGANCE WITHOUT CONSULTING ME I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS DAMN ELECTRONIC. SRIOUSLY FUCK THIS I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO ANYMORE FUCK ALL THIS!**

***Ahem***** So very sorry. Everything was just deleted. Don't believe me? One of my FanFiction buddies came over for a sleepover and was with me when it happened. So I have nothing. Absolutely nothing. This included plots for other stories and oneshots. **

**Just to make matters worse for my already increasing stress and frustration level, it's my kitty. Her name is Abby. Abby Normal (insert last name here). Get it? Abby-normal? Those who watched Young Frankenstein will understand. If you don't, Abby Normal=Abnormal because he is the weirdest cat alive, I swear. Anyway, she might have cancer. Note that today is August 6, 2012 right now when I am posting. Today, we are getting the results to see if my kitty has cancer. We'll probably have to put her down. She hasn't been eating and throws up on a regular basis now. When results come in later today, it's probably not good news.**

**No chapters or story progress + dying pet=FUCK MY FUCKING LIFE.**

**I don't have any idea what will happen to this story. No clue. Does anyone has suggestions? I don't think I can recover everything I've lost…**

**I AM SOOOO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME! BLAME MY COMPUTER!**

**Hey! If anyone wants to continue this on his/her own…prove yourself and you can have it, I guess. I just can't do this, not after what just happened…I have the idea for the plot still in my head. A little bit of it. I have Luka's stuff memorized from spending so much time writing it, and some of my gruesome/pure insanity scenes have to appear because I know you guys want to see some of that~**

**I wish I could show you guys some of the most gruesome stuff I had planned~ It was fun to write up. But now that it's all gone, my plans are fucked!**

**Go on. Hate me. Flame me. Do what you like.**

**This could work as an FML. All my work deleted, dying pet…**

**SOMEBODY KILL ME.**

**You can adopt the story. Is that correct wording? I say it is, so it is now. If you chose to (which I have high doubts anyone will), then I can send you quick profiles of how I designed the characters to act or something.**

**Like I said, I am so terribly sorry that my computer did such a thing to screw with my life.**

…**umm…good luck with whatever you choose to do, I guess…**

**FML!**


End file.
